Development of a Web-GIS Platform for Environmental Monitoring and Conservation of the Muringato Catchment in Kenya

Abstract

Monitoring and protecting the environment is a major goal for various stakeholders due to the continuous degradation by anthropogenic factors and climate change occurrences. Developing web-based geographic information system (GIS) platforms have been proposed as one environmental monitoring tool because of their easy operability, accessibility, and ability to present data. A web-based GIS platform developed from Django and GeoDjango frameworks and PostgreSQL database was deployed for the Muringato catchment to aid in the visualization of near-real-time environmental degradation incidents reported by the local community. The web-GIS platform interface comprised a legend categorized according to the incident type and other functionalities including clustering, zoom in/out, pop-ups, and query to aid end-user interaction with the visualized data. The web-GIS platform provided a platform with near-real-time data to engage various stakeholders for the collaborative conservation efforts of the Muringato catchment. Functional and performance evaluation tests showed the platform functional on various web browsers with the web page loading in less than 2 s. The 53% user acceptance testing responses from 30 identified stakeholders affirmed stakeholder willingness for collaborative environmental conservation. The platform could be customized for monitoring other catchment areas and/or used to continuously monitor climate change mitigation strategies such as afforestation programs.