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You are tasked with the production of a coastal management plan for a small estuary on the Baltic Sea. The estuary has important areas for nature conservation, but is also has a small port and is therefore used by commercial shipping. The estuary is also used for recreational sailing and swimming. In order to inform management decisions, you decide to use GIS. The ultimate aim of the management plan is to reduce conflict between the users and the natural environment and provide a basis for future sustainable use of the estuary.

Work through the following questions to help you think about how GIS could be used.

QUESTION 1

What information do you need in order to help produce the management plan?

 

QUESTION 2

Consider how to identify areas of use-use and use-environment conflict. How would you gain this data?

 

QUESTION 3

Using the structure presented earlier in the module, prepare a brief project plan to show how you would use the GIS to identify areas of conflict.

 
You should now have a brief project plan to use GIS to assist with the management of a small estuary. In practice, this plan would need to be more detailed and worked through more carefully. In particular, the implications of using GIS should be considered in relation to the cost of system implementation, data availability and cost, any training requirements, additional staffing and of changes to working patterns that the use of GIS may require.  


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