PADF donates GIS equipment to University of Belize with support from Taiwan
Belmopan, Belize – The Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) donated USD $4,000 worth of technological equipment, tools and software to the University of Belize (UB) on its second Annual Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Day.
The donation was made possible through the support of the Republic of China (Taiwan) under the project “Community Preparedness and Resilience: Community-Based Approaches to Disaster Preparedness and Climate Change Adaptation in Belize.” The donation aims to build the technological capacity of the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Center at the University of Belize. Materials donated include:
- A platform software upgrade (ArcGIS Online Level 2)
- 5 Samsung Galaxy Tablets
- 5 Garmin GPS units
- 3 fiberglass measuring tapes
- 3 metric fabric diameter tapes
- 1 pruner/saw package
“PADF is committed to supporting UB’s goal of expanding its GIS Center to provide advance GIS Courses through its Natural Resources Management Program,” said Minerva Pinelo, PADF Project Director in Belize. “We are also happy to provide opportunities for students to engage in field work, which will contribute to our joint efforts in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.”
With technical support from PADF, 26 students from the University of Belize conducted GPS tracking along the coastline of Hopkins Village and Dangriga Town in Southern Belize in October 2015. The data collected will be used to produce two community risk resource maps and will help inform project activities to mitigate beach erosion, decrease mangrove deforestation and identify potential risk flood zones.