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Cree Geospatial Portal to Facilitate Land Use Planning and Tourism Development in Eeyou Istchee
The Cree Outfitting and Tourism Association (COTA) was identified as a treaty obligation under the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement signed in 1975 and it was incorporated as a non-profit organization in December of 2000. COTA works with the nine Cree communities in Eeyou Istchee, the Cree traditional territory, located in northern Quebec. COTA's mission is to develop and implement a collective vision for a world-class sustainable tourism industry in Eeyou Istchee, that is in harmony with Cree culture and values, and that involves a partnership among Cree communities, institutions and businesses.
The number of visitors to Eeyou Istchee has been increasing and there are many competing land-uses such as forestry, mining and hydro-electric development. The increased pressure from all areas prompted land use complaints from communities. ”There were many individuals concerned about snowmobiles trails crossing trap lines,” says Robin McGinley, Executive Director at Cree Outfitting and Tourism Association. In response to the land use issues, COTA partnered with the Cree Trapper’s Association (CTA) and started a project to organize information and make it available for mapping. GeoConnections provided $85,600 in funding to support the development of a geospatial portal.
In the past, the region’s data was collected using traditional means: pencil and paper and then later it was transferred to various databases managed by various Cree and non-Cree organizations. “Although there was a significant amount of research that was done, it was very difficult for the actual users to access the information.” says Ms. McGinley. “A community member would have to approach each individual organization to try and piece together the complete land-use picture for their community or trapline.” The community was therefore excited about the prospect of using a web portal to capture previously collected data, input new data, and make information readily available to the whole community.
Gaining Access to Data
The joint project has created a fully functioning and user friendly portal, which is used to manage lands and facilitate tourism planning. Developed in accordance with CGDI standards and services, the portal helps deliver geospatial information to Cree communities. The communities use the portal for planning, decision making, discussions, and supporting research related to resource management and tourism development. “The portal is a secure location for all land use information to be stored, managed, mapped and used,” says Ms. McGinley.
COTA and the CTA can combine different pieces of information from the portal with pre-existing map layers and produce a dynamic view of areas of interest. A tourism planner, local fur officer or community member can then use the online portal to gain access to information such as the locations of cabins and trap lines and the details of outfitting permits. The long term administration of the Cree Geoportal is directly administered by both COTA and CTA.
Building Stronger Relationships
Local benefits of the project include, but are not limited to, the availability of more information management tools, resulting in more effective and timely decision making by managers. In addition, using this portal as an example, COTA and the CTA can present to other Cree organizations the value that such projects hold. The portal has continued to receive positive appraisal and feedback. With others acknowledging the benefits of the project it can now act as a tool to reinforce old partnerships and form new ones.
The project is important to the communities because it is designed to meet Cree needs. “It wasn’t an outside organization that decided what the Cree people needed or what would be useful,” says Ms. McGinley. “The communities understood the land use issues and identified what they required. The project was truly built from a community perspective.” In a way, the project continues what the community was doing before. But now community members can use an online tool that provides quicker and more organized access to data.
Looking Into the Future
The project will continue with new partners, including a parks management group. COTA and the CTA plan to link to more partners and continue to build a hub for land use planning information at the regional level, updating and adding tools to the portal based on the needs of new and existing partners.
The Cree GeoPortal web site can be found at:
http://www.creegeoportal.ca or in the future www.creetourism.ca
| GeoConnections is a national partnership initiative to evolve and expand the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure. |