LINKING PEOPLE TO WATERSHED PROTECTION PLANNING WITH A GIS - A CASE-STUDY OF A CENTRAL-AMERICAN WATERSHED

In the Pacuare River Watershed in Costa Rica, farm size, ownership, an d production data were collected and spatially referenced through glob al positioning surveys and farmer assessments of property boundaries i n relation to cadastral maps and air photographs. Using geographic inf ormation system (GIS) based spatial overlays, these data were integrat ed with previously collected land use and land degradation data. The r esulting integrated database allowed for land use and degradation data to be classified by alternative farm sizes in order to assess the ind ividual needs and relative priority of a soil conservation program for different farms. In spite of limited funding and many technical and d ata constraints in Central America, such GIS-based methodologies linki ng farms and people to biophysically based land use and degradation ar e seen as a feasible and cost-effective approach to plan and implement soil conservation and other types of natural resource management proj ects.