Drone governance: study of policies, laws and regulations governing the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in ACP countries

The use of UAVs or drones in the management of crops, livestock, fisheries, forests and other natural resource-based activities represents a new technological frontier and opens up a range of exciting opportunities. However, the use of UAVs is a recent phenomenon and interested users and national civil aviation authorities are facing challenges linked to their use within their skies. To realise the full potential of the technology while ensuring the safety and privacy of citizens, two things are necessary: enabling regulatory regimes and increasing awareness of the rules and regulations surrounding civil use of UAVs.

Although the European Commission recently supported the establishment of an online repository of information concerning regulations issued by all European countries, there is no similar comprehensive database on existing and forthcoming policies, laws and regulations governing the use of UAVs in ACP countries. The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA), an international organisation funded mainly by the European Union and operating in 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries wishes to facilitate the responsible use of UAVs and related software applications to improve the effective management of crops, fishing grounds and other resource-based activities.

To that end, this study assessed the existence or absence of policies, rules and regulations governing the use of UAVs in all 79 ACP countries. The results are quite telling: as of April 2016, 73% of ACP countries did not have any rules or regulations in place; 19% had some regulations in place; and 8% were in the process of formulating them. CTA hopes that this database will help to increase awareness of the rules and regulations surrounding UAV use, promote their responsible use and help to fully realise their potential in the management of crops, fisheries and other resources.

The report is available as a download on CTA's online publications' portal.

Data gathered in the course of the study have been published on a site hosted by The Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) and is accessible on this wiki www.droneregulations.info which allows online collaboration.

The Power of Maps - Bringing the Third Dimension to the Negotiation Table

Participatory 3D modelling (P3DM) is one of the most remarkable innovations of the late 20th century. It is remarkable because it brings together three elements that many would consider incompatible – local spatial and natural resource knowledge, geographic information systems (GIS) and physical modelling.

As the inspiring accounts in this volume show, it can do this in many environments, of varied sizes and involving many people, sometimes more than a hundred and inclusively, both young and old. When well prepared and facilitated, as so amply illustrated here, the process gives rise to a progressive creative synergy. This empowers communities, by enabling them to share and express in lasting visual form the rich detail of what they know and by providing them with a tool for analysis, decision-making, advocacy, action and monitoring.

This volume bears testimony to the multiple uses and values of P3DM. In the examples described, the uses to which communities have put their models include natural resource planning and management; land and ocean rehabilitation; mapping their ancestral territories and establishing their rights; planning for conservation; disaster risk reduction and adaptation to climate change and variability; educating children in schools about their history and cultural heritage; bringing together community members with differences; and negotiating with officials and influencing policy.

Foreword by Robert Chambers, IDS

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in English
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Participatory 3D model by indigenous community in Nicaragua

This 3D model has been developed with assistance provided by the Centro para la Autonomía y Desarollo de los Pueblos Indígenas (CADPI) by the indigenous community of Miguel Bikan in Nicaragua and has been used for monitoring, reporting and verification. In completing and using the model, the community has a community-based monitoring information system.

www.p3dm.org

Sharing lessons with the world - Tonga’s P3DM success story

HONOLULU, 5 September 2016. Tonga was represented on the world stage at the World Conservation Congress in Hawaii this week. The island kingdom successfully carried out Participatory Three-Dimensional Modelling (P3DM) for the Vava’u island group this year as part of the Integrated Island Biodiversity Project.

At a special event to launch the Power of Maps book at the World Conservation Congress, Ms. Ana Fekau, the IIB Project Coordinator of Tonga shared their story of the P3DM process and how it helped to strengthen community engagement in planning for the conservation of biodiversity in Tonga.

“The process in developing the first P3DM in the Kingdom of Tonga brought communities together, the elderlies, youth and school children. The P3DM was not just a tool for planning purposes, but was also a tool to empower communities and to hear their voices through the stories they were sharing during the process,” said Ms. Fekau.

Hindou Ibrahim Omarou opening the session on the book lauch
(Image credit: Mikaela Jade)

The IIB Project supports an integrated ecosystem approach to the biodiversity conservation management at the local level in the Cook Islands, Nauru, Tonga and Tuvalu. The four year project finishes at the end of this year.

“The World Conservation Congress has provided an excellent platform to showcase and share Tonga’s P3DM work that was successfully completed under this project, and the expansion of this work to Nauru and the Cook Islands,” said Ms Easter Galuvao, Biodiversity Adviser at the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment (SPREP).

Ms Ana FeKau presenting at the book launch
(Image credit: Nigel Crawhall)

During her presentation, Ms Fekau explained the 3D participatory process, the challenges faced and valuable lessons resulting from Tonga’s P3DM, including her role in the successful replication of P3DM in the main island of Tongatapu.

“I wish to express sincere thanks and acknowledge the GEFPAS IIB Project and SPREP for facilitating the P3DM for Tonga, the Samoa Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for providing their valuable technical expertise and to the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rurel Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) for their support,” said Ms Fekau during her presentation.

The presentation was given at a side event at the IUCN World Conservation Congress (WCC) currently underway in Honolulu, Hawaii is attended by over 9,000 participants from around the world and will wrap up on the 10 September.

The GEFPAS Integrated Island Biodiversity (IIB) Project is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), implemented through the United Nations Environment Programme (UNDP) and executed by SPREP in the Cook Islands, Nauru, Tonga and Tuvalu.

Note: Ms Ana Fekau works at the Ministry of Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Climate Change and  Communications (MEIDECC), in Nuku`alofa, Tonga