Mozambique National Geospatial Information Project

Assist the people of Mozambique map the location of land mines, using Canadian expertise and technology. This program drastically improved demining operations in Mozambique while creating business opportunities for the Canadian industry.

Objectives

• Create an integrated map data bank scanning all existing paper maps.
• Build a toponymic to enable the conversion of all toponymic information from paper files to digital data and facilitate the integration of toponymic data from other sources.
• Transfer of Canadian technology and expertise to enable the production of the toponymic database and the integrated map data bank.

Partners

• Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
• Earth Sciences Sector (ESS), Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)
• National De-Mining Institute of Mozambique
• National Mapping Agency of Mozambique

Duration

From 2000 to 2003

Background

This project was commissioned by CIDA under an agreement between Canada and Mozambique for a three-year $10.5-million program to support the removal of landmines. An administrative agreement, worth $1.3-million, between CIDA and NRCan was signed on September 22, 2000. The agreement identifies ESS as the Executing Agency for the project.

Mozambique is one of the poorest and most heavily mined countries in the world. More than a million land mines remained scattered throughout the country. Hundreds of people have been killed or maimed. Flooding aggravated the situation, forcing people to move to unfamiliar areas where they run an even greater risk of encountering mines. In addition, the landscape and place names changed significantly during decades of war, making it even more difficult to rid the country of mines without detailed, up-to-date maps.

The design of the toponymic database, the scanning of the existing maps and the transfer of technology to Mozambique was awarded to Intelec Geomatics inc. through a competitive process. Intelec was responsible for training the people of Mozambique to convert topographic paper maps to a digital format using SoftMap, a Canadian technology. Intelec also created a system for tracking the evolution of place names, and ESS worked closely with the government of Mozambique to organize a committee to standardize these names. Through this work, Mozambique modernized the capabilities of its own mapping organization.

ESS also insured that the transferred technology met the needs of the Mozambican government.

Contact

Denis Haché – Project Manager