In its foreword NEMA executive director Henry Aryamanya-Mugisha
? writes: "The availability of consistent, up-to-date and relevant environmental information is a pre-requisite for rational and cost-effective decision making processes. Among the efforts undertaken by the Uganda National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) over the past 10 years has been the effective management of environmental information. As early as 1994 it was realized that most institutions in the country needed to collect, update and transform their data into formats that can be used in environmental analysis. The National Environmental Information Center (NEIC) established during the same year played a leading role in laying the foundation for capacity building in the use of tools such as Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) among government institutions. These tools have greatly enhanced the production of the National State of Environment reports and Environmental Atlases in Uganda.''"
The report goes into depth on several central Ugandan tools for national level environmental management:
- EIS - Environmental Information Systems
- EIN - Environmental Information Network
- SOE - State of the Environment
One important part of the report is it's straightforward mention of problems related to data ownership. Dataset duplication, metadata handling, mandates, formats, coverages and more are discussed.
Examples of the real-life consequences of proper environmental information management and dissemination are also presented.
The full report is available for download from the UNEP webpage:
http://www.grida.no/publications/the-uganda-case-study/
