INTEGRATED NATURAL RESOURCES ASSESSMENT IN SUPPORT OF REGIONAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT – PROOF-OF-CONCEPT APPLICATION, ANOSY REGION OF SOUTHEASTERN MADAGASCAR

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has developed an integrated, multidisciplinary, geospatial-based, natural resource assessment methodology, and in 2006, applied the technique to the Anosy Region of southeastern Madagascar. The project was financed by the World Bank, and formulated and led by the USGS on behalf of le Projet de Gouvernance des Ressources Minérales (PGRM), under the auspices of Département des Mines et de la Géologie (DMG) of the Ministère de l'Energie et des Mines (MEM), Madagascar. The assessment involved a geospatial analyst, economic geologists, hydrogeologists, ecologists, an economist, community and regional development planners, and was undertaken within the appropriate national, regional, and local community development frameworks and authorities.

The purpose of the assessment was to enhance knowledge of natural resource potential in the region, and to provide information and decision-making guidance to assist with the creation of a sustainable economic development model driven by mineral resources. Relationships among geology/metallogeny, hydrogeology, ecology, and socio-economy were used to identify priority mineral resource areas for development, as well as to provide insight into the impact of industrial and building materials on regional growth and the environment. The primary elements of the assessment are (1) the identification of areas with elevated mineral potential, (2) the delineation of development poles and corridors based upon mineral, water, environmental, and socioeconomic resource considerations, which highlight existing infrastructure and potential opportunities that could support or compliment mining activities, and (3) integration of the poles across other socioeconomic sectors, such as agriculture, fishery, tourism, as well as ecological conservation and restoration, and social and physical infrastructure.

The core components of the assessment involve the compilation, reduction, and synthesis of spatial and non-spatial data and information (fig. 1). Spatial datasets relating to geology, metallogeny, hydrogeology, ecology, environment, and socio-economy were used to delineate tracts of land permissive for the occurrence of (or known to possess) mineral, water, ecologic, and socioeconomic resources. The tracts were combined respectively to create maps showing elevated favorability for these resources. The favorability maps were then integrated with one another, whereby mineral resource favorability maps were refined by “filtering” them through the favorability maps of the other disciplines. In this manner, areas of high mineral resource favorability were down-graded when proximal to conservation areas or regions of restricted mineral activity, or up-graded when proximal to roads, water sources, or other infrastructure. Similarly, mineral resource favorability maps were integrated with various tract maps of socioeconomic resources to evaluate the impact of economic and social conditions, or benefits and detriments that could result from development in favorable areas.

The resource assessment tracts and favorability maps were delineated, combined, and integrated using expert-knowledge and fuzzy logic spatial modeling techniques. Tracts were extracted from individual datasets, or manually delineated across multiple layers. Resource favorability maps were generated by combining resource tracts using the fuzzy SUM mathematical operator, which has an overall increasive affect. Resource favorability maps were integrated with one another using the fuzzy AND mathematical operator, which has a decreasive affect where one or more favorabilities are low.