Resource Sketch Mapping


		Resource Mapping


	This page was last updated on February 10, 2008			Home Mapping Toolbox Resource Mapping Sketch map produced by women in Barangay Bucana, El Nido, Palawan, Philippines (Yr 1997) Sketch mapping in Barangay Harubay, Mt. Isarog National Park, Camarines Sur, Philippines (Yr 1997) Resource Mapping is a method for collating and plotting information on the occurrence, distribution, access and use of resources within the economic and cultural domain of a specific community. Variations are introduced in selecting particular focus groups and/or in adding a further stage to generate geo-referenced information through a two-stage resource mapping process. Resource mapping" or "sketch mapping" helps people in picturing resources and features on a given base and in graphically manifesting the significance they attach to them. Outputs may differ according to the specific purpose the exercise is conducted for and to the characteristics of participants. Resource mapping is ideally preceded by a resource historical transect, which provides for a preliminary checklist of resource-related issues relevant to the community. Resource mapping is best associated with other tools and in particular with transect walks, which contribute to a more critical analysis of the individual resource. Resource mapping should be conducted at the onset of a community based activity, but only after rapport has been established with the community. Knowledge on the social structure of the participating community is a prerequisite for the facilitator. This is because the community may consider resource distribution, use and access as sensitive issues. Strengths Repeated at given intervals, resource mapping can become integral part of (Participatory) Monitoring and Evaluation (PM&E). In depth resource mapping for a particular resource can be done at any time of the project cycle. It can help generating qualitative and quantitative information. Resource mapping can apply to all ecosystems known to the community and it can be elaborated up to different levels of definition. Weaknesses In a general assessment of this approach, it was observed that the basic input - the participatory resource map - is spatially confined to the social, cultural and economic domains of those who produce it. Thus, in the case of larger areas, like protected areas and their buffer zones, covering hundreds of square kilometers and tenth of different administrations, the production of a sufficient number of community-specific sketch maps becomes unrealistic from both practical and financial points of view. Provided good community mobilization, transect diagramming and plotting natural and other resources onto sketch maps are readily adopted methods. Nonetheless reservations remain about how to "translate" these sketch maps into more precisely scaled authoritative information that could be used officially for management purposes. Experience has shown that bureaucracies tend to pay little attention to informal documents, including sketch maps.