Text by Patrice Bianca Roa | Photos by Jaylann Tuba and Rhea Arroyo
In November 2014, Xavier University hosted an inception meeting officially accepting a grant of Php19M funded by Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD) to map out the seaweed farms in the Philippines.
This nationwide project is dubbed as “GIS for Upscaling Seaweed Operations in the Philippines” (GUSÒ-Phil). Gusò is the Bisaya term for a certain kind of seaweed.
With XU vice-president for Research and Social Outreach Dr Hilly Ann Roa-Quiaoit as the project leader, this project is in partnership with Dr Wilfredo H Uy of Mindanao State University - Naawan (MSUN) and Dr Della Grace G Bacaltos from Southern Philippines Agri-business and Marine and Aquatic School of Technology in Davao Oriental (SPAMAST).
The project mainly has three components: Geographic Information System (GIS), Biological and Socio-Economic. Under XU, the units involved are: GeoInformatics and Precision Agriculture Center (GPAC), Department of Biology, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, College of Computer Studies (CCS) and the McKeough Marine Center (MMC). The project will also link with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Seaweed Industry Association of the Philippines (SIAP), the Marine Science Institute of the University of the Philippines (UPMSI) and the respective Local Government Units (LGUs).
GIS is a mechanism designed “to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of spatial or geographical data.”
With GPAC heading the GIS component, it will serve as the database headquarters for all the data that will be gathered by all partners. With this database, an atlas of maps showing the seaweed farm areas will be generated. In addition to this output, an interactive website will provide an actual map of groundtruthed data with seaweed farm details. This website will provide continued information on seaweeds for targeted stakeholders.