NAIROBI, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan-based Regional Center for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) will partner to assist African countries to conserve the biodiversity of their protected areas, an official said on Monday.
RCMRD director general Emmanuel Nkurunziza told Xinhua in Nairobi that through the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management (BIOPAMA), 24 countries in east and southern Africa will be helped to capture data to create a repository for effective management of protected areas such as national parks.
"We will deploy use of satellite technology to monitor and report on the status of biodiversity in the protected areas," Nkurunziza said.
According to the regional mapping body, the project will begin towards the end of 2019 and run for three years.
Nkurunziza noted that some of the countries have developed national repositories which contain data on conservation issues but the information has not been consolidated throughout the 24 countries in east and southern Africa.
He revealed that the project is also ideal due to the transboundary nature of wildlife species which tend to migrate in search for water and pasture.
The official added that the region is rich in animal and plant biodiversity which is currently threatened by encroachment caused by human activities.
Nkurunziza noted that through images captured from space, data will be collected on the national park boundaries, the different economic and buffer zones and where animal species are located.
"The information will be used to develop interventions that will prevent human wildlife conflict," he added.
