Remote sensing in support of artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) policy development, implementation and evaluation
This project is being settled in the frame of a wider study that aims to support: (1) national and regional artisanal and small-scale mining (ASGM) policy development and evaluation; (2) environmental risk assessment in aquatic environments affected by ASGM activity; (3) the further development of the guidance for national action plans (NAPs) on ASGM; and (4) the monitoring guidance work advanced by the Secretariat of the Minamata Convention for the effectiveness evaluation. Guidance is provided in the form of a technical background-document that discusses the influence ASGM activity has on the aquatic environment; discusses the benefits and challenges in using remote sensing technologies and in-situ environmental monitoring of mercury (and related support parameters) in water, sediment and selected biota, individually and together; and suggests a strategy and methods for ASGM site-identification and prioritization, as well as, environmental sampling, chemical analysis and data-treatment, including SOPs, in support of the study's objectives.
More specifically the tasks of the MapX team in this project are the following:
- Contribute to the drafting of a technical guidance document aiming at showing the benefits and challenges of using remote sensing technologies to support artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) policy development, implementation and evaluation. These guidelines are designed as a supplement to the UNEP guidance document on "Developing a National Action Plan to Reduce, and Where Feasible, Eliminate Mercury Use in Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining", which offers overarching guidance to countries formulating ASGM national action plans (NAPs) for the Minamata Convention.
- Implement remote sensing methods to illustrate the technical guidance document with concrete use cases.
- Develop a story map into MapX in order to showcase the results of the use cases.
- Coordinate with a Ghanaian African researcher to get a regional and a national perspective on the study.
- Disseminate the results of the project in international conferences.
More specifically the tasks of the MapX team in this project are the following:
- Contribute to the drafting of a technical guidance document aiming at showing the benefits and challenges of using remote sensing technologies to support artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) policy development, implementation and evaluation. These guidelines are designed as a supplement to the UNEP guidance document on "Developing a National Action Plan to Reduce, and Where Feasible, Eliminate Mercury Use in Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining", which offers overarching guidance to countries formulating ASGM national action plans (NAPs) for the Minamata Convention.
- Implement remote sensing methods to illustrate the technical guidance document with concrete use cases.
- Develop a story map into MapX in order to showcase the results of the use cases.
- Coordinate with a Ghanaian African researcher to get a regional and a national perspective on the study.
- Disseminate the results of the project in international conferences.
