[HOT] Mapping Africa's National Parks, Game Reserves and Nature Reserves

[John White]

Hi Mikel
Thanks for your interest, I have addressed your questions below.

*Where to start:*
It is probably worth making a start on the better known more popular
reserves and then move onto lesser know less popular parks & reserves. I
will work on updating the Wiki page with the major parks & reserves in each
country.
Here are a few that we could start with. They have all been partially
mapped but generally not very well...
Masai Mara National Park: http://www.openstreetmap.org/way/85502172
Ngorongoro Conservation Area: http://www.openstreetmap.org/way/43196616
Serengeti National Park: http://www.openstreetmap.org/way/43196617

*Imagery coverage:*
Yes, from what I can see, Bing maps covers many parks & reserves in Africa

*Imagery features to map:*
The Park/Reserve boundaries are important but it can be difficult to get
exact boundary polygons. People in the respective countries could maybe be
of help here. Otherwise roads (including jeep tracks), buildings, points of
interest (if known) and major natural features such as rivers, waterholes,
lakes, dams, marshes, forests etc. are important. With regards to paths, I
would suggest that only human paths in and around building be mapped
otherwise a lot of time may be wasted mapping animal paths. That's unless
it is a designated hiking trail...
Kruger National Park in South Africa has been pretty well mapped so is
probably the best example of what can be done:
http://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/1752987

*People on the ground:*
Yes, if people going on safari could submit GPS tracks (including road
names where applicable) and POI's, that would be extremely valuable. After
mapping a few parks in South Africa, I have found that other mappers start
adding local knowledge details (e.g. road and POI's names) once the map has
become sufficiently detailed.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Regards
John White




On 29 September 2014 21:24, Mikel Maron <mikel_maron at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Hi John
>
> I think this is an exciting initiative. It's not an urgent humanitarian
> response that is often HOT's focus, but it's probably interesting to many
> of us who work across different parts of Africa; and HOT's tools, like the
> Tasking Manager, can be useful. There are also various regional and country
> lists and forums to find other mappers interested.
>
> Someone here, or myself, can get things set up on a tasking manger job.
> Where, among the several parks listed in the wiki, do you think is a good
> place to start? Have you checked for imagery coverage over the parks?
>
> And what kind of features do you think we can spot well from imagery? Some
> guidance here would be useful, as it might take a keen eye to distinguish
> say main tracks through parks vs occasional tracks. What other kinds of
> features important to wildlife and park infrastructure might we be able to
> spot?
>
> Do you foresee any connection with people going on safari, or safari
> tours? Simply GPS tracks are helpful. Even more helpful is on the ground
> surveying in coordination with remote mapping.
>
> -Mikel
>
> * Mikel Maron * +14152835207 @mikel s:mikelmaron
>
>
>   On Monday, September 29, 2014 2:11 PM, John White <jwpwhite at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>
>
> Hi All
> I am coordinating a project to map the protected areas (National Parks,
> Game Reserves, Nature Reserves etc.) in Africa. Apart from preserving
> wildlife, Africa's protected areas are an important and sustainable sources
> of foreign currency, jobs and upliftment in many countries on the
> continent. Outside of South Africa, protected areas have hardly been mapped
> on OSM making it very difficult for tourists and travel operators to
> navigate and review these areas before travelling to them.
>
> I would like for this project 'Mapping Africa's Protected Areas' to be
> set-up on HOT so that is can receive the attention in really deserves. Is
> there anyone that is interested and can assist?
>
> I have made a start on mapping some protected areas and tracking their
> progress:
> https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/WikiProject_African_National_Parks_and_Reserves
>
> Regards
> John White
>
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>
>
>


-- 
Regards
John White

Tel: +27796003658
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