FULLTEXT

Considerations for the Application of GIS/GPS for
Land Use Planning and Land Allocation
in the Son La and Lai Chau Provinces

Pham Quoc Tuan (SFDP)

INTRODUCTION

The Social Forestry Development project (SFDP) Song Da has developed and promoted land use planning and land allocation (LUPLA) methodologies as the first step in identifying measures for sustainable land use and improving the living conditions of local people in the Song Da watershed. This methodology has recently been approved and adopted by the authorities of Son La and Lai Chau provinces as the official methodology.

To date, the methodology uses traditional mapping and surveying techniques. Although it is possible to obtain good precision with these techniques they are time consuming and depend on the mapping and surveying skills of the field staff. Of particular concern to the project, imprecise results of mapping may affect the validity of Redbook Certificates (the final products of LUPLA). It is therefore necessary to explore possibilities of applying GIS. The paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the LUPLA process currently applied in Son La and Lai Chau- and presents the current discussion on using GIS. The current process can be analyzed with regard to 2 issues: the LUPLA process in the field (Table 1) the resulting maps (Table 2) and the benefits of using GIS (Table 3).

Table 1. Strengths and weaknesses of the current LUPLA methodology

Strengths	Weaknesses/ Constraints
1. The methodology is inheritantly, flexible and appropriate to the local capacity and resources 2. Land use planning is implemented and approved prior to land allocation 3. Land use planning and land allocation is implemented for individual villages before being aggregated for the whole commune and then for the district 4. Local people are directly involved in the process with the application of PRA (3-D model, transect walk and land allocation in the field) 5. There is close collaboration between the cadastral and the forest protection sectors at provincial and district level in land allocation	1. There is lack of qualified cadastral and forest protection staff at district and commune level for implementing LUPLA 2. The quality of LUPLA needs to be improved: There are still mistakes in hand- made maps, accuracy is low in drawing and editing The General Cadastral Department's requirements for cadastral documents and procedures are still time and resource consuming There is unclear responsibility or lack of responsibility at the district level, causing mistakes in the process of granting land use right certificates 3. The responsibilities of the Cadastral Department, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the sub-Department of Forest Protection are still overlapping
6. Training and re-training have been organized for provincial staff as well as district and commune staff to guide farmers in LUPLA and make LUPLA maps 7. Administrative procedures and cadastral documents and tables have been simplified.	4. The progress of LUPLA is slower than required 5. There is not application of the GIS system in land allocation to improve map quality and accelerate the process of granting red book certificates 6. Cost estimate: VND20,000/Ha

Table 2: Strengths and weaknesses of the currently used land use planning
and land allocation methodology

Strengths

Weaknesses

The tools for mapping are simple and easy to make

Effective in depicting the boundaries of plots with clear colour

Effective in depicting administrative boundaries of villages, communes and districts

Effective in depicting the communications network among villages and communes

Easy to make legend for the map

Easy to draw the map by hand

Low cost for manual labor

Mapping has now been implemented by a district agency

There is big location error between the map and the field

There is often big error in shape and area between the map and the field

Legends in the maps are not in conformity with other maps in the same district

Big errors result from the absence of original topographical maps scaled 1/10,000, often used is 1150,000 scaled maps

There is lack of location names, e.g. rivers, paths, hills in villages and communes, making it difficult to identify in the field and causing errors due to estimations and distance observation

There is a lack of simple measuring and drawing tools, or if available, the tools are not uniform, causing the map's low quality with wrong numbering of plots

Storage, documentation and updating of maps has not been well organized

There is a lack of proper training for LUPLA implementing staff on criteria and symbols for classification in land use planning

There is a lack of staff well trained in mapping and using map on- the field for land use planning

Calculation of area is often lacks careful measurements to have exact figures

Benefits of using GIS

In view of the existing weaknesses, the use of aerial photographs and GIS has been discussed with the province.

Table 3. Benefits and disadvantages of using GIS and aerial photographs

Benefits	Disadvantages
Uniform measurements GIS allows for 1/10.000 maps No need for measuring and drawing tools Easy storage and updating The use of GIS can considerably accelerate the process GIS allows 1/10,000 scaled maps	More training and skills needed High investment cost High operating cost Cover personnel requirements (Many people without work)

CONCLUSION

Aerial photographs are the cheapest and most effective tool for depicting an area’s topographical features on 1/10,000 maps. According to FIPI, the cost is roughly 5,000 VND/ha plus 2,000 VND/ha in field costs: 7,000 VND/ha in total.
GIS should be used in mapping and managing geographical data, updating regularly information on LUPLA and forest status. With this system, there is no need to redraw maps by hand, thereby minimizing associated labor costs and office work, saving both cost and time. In SFDP's experience, 40% of the time for LUPLA is spent on mapping and office work. So the use of GIS can help to considerably accelerate the process.
Regardless of methodology, however, in-the-field training of local cadres in LUPLA is essential. Only by building capacity among district and commune cadastral and forest protection staff, can the process, especially the application of red book certificates, be accelerated. Therefore, with or without GIS, more training is needed.
In view of the strengths and weaknesses of applying GIS, the provinces of Son La and Lai Chau have come to the conclusion not to use GIS at the moment. The main reasons for this decision are lacking of high investment cost and quality staff,
In the near future, although the application of GIS has clear advantages, investment will almost be concentrated in densely populated areas. In remote areas, such as the Northern Mountains, the "second best" option may well be the best first alternative, focusing on upgrading existing personnel resources before taking the step in the direction of a GIS.

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