Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning.

Quiñones, Maya; Gould, William; Rodriguez-Pedraza, Carlos D. 2006. Geospatial data availability for Haiti: an aid in the development of GIS-based natural resource assessments for conservation planning. Gen. Tech. Rep. IITF-GTR-33. San Juan, PR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry. 55 p. This report documents the type and source of geospatial data available for Haiti. It was compiled to serve as a resource for geographic information system (GIS)based land management and planning. It will be useful for conservation planning, reforestation efforts, and agricultural extension projects. Our study indicates that there is a great deal of geospatial information available for Haiti, both digitally georeferenced and hardcopy. The sources of geospatial information range from historical maps to recent satellite imagery and thematic maps. The types of information are described and their sources indicated with a series of 14 figures and 15 tables. The sources of information include personal correspondence and Internet and literature searches. The report represents a substantial amount of information and also indicates some gaps in available information. Information not documented in this report may have been missed in our search efforts or is nonexistent. Sources most likely to be missed include work in progress and local government or university work that is not widely distributed. The primary gaps in available geospatial information include information on soils and hazard assessments such as flooding and landslides, information on current conservation areas and practices, and information on wildlife and endangered species distributions.