OBLIQUE AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY: A NOVEL TOOL FOR THE MONITORING AND PARTICIPATORY MANAGEMENT OF PROTECTED AREAS

摘要: Protected areas are our principal conservation strategy, but require surveillance and monitoring for effective management. Many threatened by shifting cultivation, a practice that is difficult to detect accurately with satellite imagery generally carried out clandestinely in isolated areas. Since 2010, oblique aerial photography has been used detect, understand rapidly respond cultivation national parks new protected Madagascar. flown over annually at height of 500 m above the ground along fixed transects spaced 3 km or 6 apart: comparison images between years reveals clearings, which located measured using Google Earth GIS software. Aerial foot patrols locate clearings on enforce rules (in parks) improve dialogue area managers cultivators areas). Oblique intuitively easy thus provide powerful tool discussions resource users other stakeholders facilitate participatory The method significantly cheaper than use requires minimal training, potential management agencies worldwide.