Sorong, Ekuatorial – As digital map availability for forest area was still limited, Fauna Flora International or FFI held basic training to map out Raja Ampat forest area which already started on Wednesday (21/1).
The workshop also involved local civil society and Raja Ampat Region 1 Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA).
“The mapping will not only be useful for civil society but also local people as this digital map would be able to reveal and monitor changes in the forest area, ” said Fitria Indrawaty, Coordinator Program of Raja Ampat FFI, on Thursday (22/1).
Furthermore, Indrawaty said that digital map will also be helpful in collecting data in the field to avoid overlapping in land use change. The mapping workshop was welcomed by local BKSDA which has yet to have region maps of their forest area. “We do have a complete map but we don’t have maps per areas, let along digital [maps],” said Jeffry Tibalia of Raja Ampat Region 1 BKSDA.
“All this time, if you need maps per region then you need to go to the agency but this workshop will help us to get [the map] in digital form,” said Tibalia. The workshop would be held until Monday (26/1). Niken Proboretno