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MangleBlanco's Diary

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Hola mapeadores de OSM!

Es un placer presentarles la primera tarea del projecto: #3302 - #CARTOCOSTA-URABÁ (Turbo, Colombia) Lado oriental.

Este proyecto es financiado por: Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) #Microgrant Program.

Este permitirá mapear humedales costeros en el golfo de Urabá para ayudar a los planificadores territoriales y a las comunidades de pescadores en su respuesta ante amenazas de inundación en el área.

El área de trabajo está ubicada en el Municipio de Turbo (Departamento de Antioquia, parte sur del Caribe colombiano)

El objetivo del proyecto es mapear una línea de costa de aproximadamente 190 km de largo y una franja costera de 2-3 km.

Realizaremos mapatones de entrenamiento el jueves 13 y el viernes 14 de julio en la Facultad de Ingenierías de la Universidad de Antioquia (sala de computos, 3er piso del bloque 20), Medellín, Colombia.

Se invita a los mapeadores remotos a unirse.

Estén pendientes de mapatones futuros y de noticias!

Mayor información en el blog: https://mangleblanco.com/2017/04/25/20170424-mapping-the-southern-caribbean-uraba-antioquia-colombia-time-to-go-open-and-humanitarian/

Hello OSM mappers,

It is a pleasure to announce the first mapping task of project #3302 - CARTOCOSTA-URABÁ (Turbo, Colombia) East coast.

It is funded by the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) #Microgrant Program.

This Project will enable mapping of coastal wetlands in the Urabá Gulf to help planners and the local fishing community to respond to flooding hazards in the area.

This area is located in Turbo Municipality (Antioquia State, Colombia, Southern Caribbean).

The project will map over 190 km of coastline, including 2-3 km width inland.

Training Mapathons will be held on Thursday 13 and Friday 14 July at Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia.

Remote OSM mappers are welcome to join.

Stay tuned for further mapathons and news.

Check out our blog:

https://mangleblanco.com/2017/04/25/20170424-mapping-the-southern-caribbean-uraba-antioquia-colombia-time-to-go-open-and-humanitarian/

Turbo is the Southern-most municipality in the Caribbean coast of Colombia, yet poorly known nation- and world-wide. Such invisibility contrasts with the beauty of tall mangroves in wild areas and with the numerous fishermen settled in small villages along a ca. 200km-coastline. In addition, the urban area of Turbo, with nearly 50,000 inhabitants, is sustained by both the services provided by mangroves in the proximity and afar, and most importantly by the small-scale fishery providing over 50 species of fish and shellfish. Turbo is a vibrant small city populated by african-descendants coming from the Pacific (Chocó) region of Colombia, amerindians from the Panamian Darién and the northern Andes, and mestizos from the european arrival. Fishermen and their families by far may account for a 1% of Turbo’s population in both rural and urban area.

Despite the foundation nearly two centuries centuries ago, the urban area has sprawled since the 1970’s as a consequence of peri-urban settlements promoted by migration from rural areas as a consequence of the armed conflict in Colombia (1,2). Such settlements occurred in lowlands, usually in the intertidal fringe, at expense of the native coastal wetlands (1, 2). Therefore, mangroves and freshwater grasslands and forests were decimated in the vicinity of Turbo. In contrasts, these types of wetlands remain as fringes or large patches in the rural areas, and coexist with small fishing villages.

Despite of this landscape mosaic, both urban and rural inhabitants in the coastal plain are subjected to natural hazards such as erosion, sea surges and flash floods, and are therefore vulnerable to climate variability (1). Indeed, in 2010-2011 this area was severely impacted by La Niña-triggered flooding in the coastal plain of Turbo river and numerous villagers, mostly fishermen and peasants were relocated in provisional shelters (3). After one year, they returned to their homes because permanent relocation plans did not translate into reality. Six years have passed by and both fishermen and city administration forgot about such event, particularly because the region experience a very strong and long drought related with El Niño 2014-2016. Nowadays, the return of La Niña is forecasted but little has been improved in terms of adaptation plans to cope with flooding hazard. Moreover, little has been discussed about the longterm consequences of sea level rise in the area, despite most people live between 0 and 2 m above sea level.

It is urgent to conduct high-resolution mapping with humanitarian objectives in this municipality. It is urgent to map flood-prone areas in both urban and rural settings. It is also urgent to map and assess the role of bioshields provided by mangroves and freshwater wetlands. It is also urgent to map mangroves to halt their destruction. Mangroves in the proximity of Turbo to the North (Bahía El Uno) are strongly impacted by illegal logging (4, 5), and although they have not been reduced in area, they stand as thin trees and their roles as bio-barriers, habitat for wildlife, and nursery for fishes could be compromised (6).

In conclusion, mangroves are key ecosystems for the entire Urabá region, and should be boldly placed on open-source maps. Mangroves should be highlighted as cornerstone to support coastal livelihoods by providing goods and services. Ultimately, coastal wetlands are key elements for the resilience of coupled social-ecological systems, and need to be included in adaptation plans to face climatic variability and climate change, particularly sea level rise (7).

References

  1. Blanco-Libreros, Juan F. Cambios globales en los manglares del golfo de Urabá (Colombia): entre la cambiante línea costera y la frontera agropecuaria en expansión. Actu Biol [online]. 2016, vol.38, n.104, pp.53-70. http://dx.doi.org/10.17533/udea.acbi.v38n104a06.

  2. Blanco-Libreros, J.F.; Estrada-Urrea, E.A. Mangroves on the Edge: Anthrome-Dependent Fragmentation Influences Ecological Condition (Turbo, Colombia, Southern Caribbean). Diversity 2015, 7, 206-228. doi:10.3390/d7030206 (http://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/7/3/206)

  3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_Ol6yIuNhM)

  4. http://www.revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/gestion/article/view/39560/42030

  5. http://www.udea.edu.co/wps/portal/udea/web/inicio/udea-noticias/udea-noticia/!ut/p/z0/fU6xDoJAFPsVF0bynoinjsTBxDg4GANvMU-46Cm-A-4wfL6HLrq4NG3TNgWCHEj4aS7sjRWugy5InZardTLNUtyhShVmap_OF8lmdjgibIH-B8KCubUtZUClFa8HD3ljO891X2mOkN2vutqH_vARJ2K9KQ27CN9tMZUdU1-20RJYhHpoWFy4HffdmYXj0jqvO4bmTsULZtZPhg!!/

  6. http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0304-35842014000100006 http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S0304-35842015000100006&lng=es&nrm=is http://www.redalyc.org/pdf/449/44942283004.pdf http://aprendeenlinea.udea.edu.co/revistas/index.php/experimenta/article/view/26205

  7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaBHj7hU0Js

See also popular articles about this region: Visión Total Caribe: http://www.visiontotal.co/desde-los-manglares-y-las-regiones-unidos-por-el-gran-caribe/ http://www.visiontotal.co/la-exploracion-cientifica-del-caribe-sur/ http://www.visiontotal.co/la-costa-de-turbo-entre-lo-salvaje-y-lo-urbano/

Location: Sevilla, Comuna 4 - Aranjuez, Medellín, Valle de Aburrá, Antioquia, RAP del Agua y la Montaña, 050006, Colombia

The Caribbean Sea is seen in the imagination of most people as an area of clear waters, paradise islands, and peaceful beaches. In the best of the instances, it is also seen as the land of dwarf mangroves border-lining creeks on coral islands.

However, the Souhtern-most tip of the Caribbean Sea located in Colombia close to the border with Panama is a different story. This location is known in world maps as the Urabá Gulf or the Darién Gulf. It is a U-shape entrance of the sea into South America formed by the clash of the tectonic plates of the Caribbean, Nazca and the Pacific. Such a geological activity gave rise to the Isthmus of Panamá and created a fracture in a North-South direction that formed the main axis of the Urabá Gulf. Therefore, this gulf is surrounded by two main coastal ridges: the Serranía del Darién to the West and the Serranía de Abibe to the East. Both mark the limits of the geological plates, the Isthmus (or Meso America) and South America, respectively.

Such an impressive geological history not only formed a coastline with a distinctive landscape from the rest of the Caribbean in the neighboring areas: Panama and Colombia. It also promoted a major change in the hydrology of an ancient river, the Atrato. Being formed in the upper part of the Western Cordillera of Colombia in the Pacific side of South America, one of the rainiest places on Earth (annual rainfall: >8 meters!), the Atrato river drains a world-class discharge. Such discharge once ran to the Pacific before of the closure of the Panama Isthmus. But nearly 3 million years ago the course of this magnificent river was diverted to the North and ended discharging into the Urabá Gulf, now the Southern-most end of the Caribbean Sea.

The change caused the mangroves to flourish and growth to a point not seen in the Caribbean coast of Panama and Colombia.

This unique land has been subject of a mapping effort aimed at understanding its biogeographic features and history.

After a decade of scientific exploration, my research group is moving from the fields of coastal ecology, landscape ecology and biogeography, to coastal zone and urban planning, as well as to sustainability of coastal livelihoods.

Mapping human settlements and using open source data has become a priority for us. In the following link the reader and mapper will see the evidence of both the wilderness of the area and the human threats to them:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/universidadantioquia/sets/72157650332838038/

The rest of the world deserves to know this wilderness heritage. The local livelihoods need the support of volunteers to prevent destruction of this natural areas and better-planning of urban settlement. Open source data seem to me an answer to both tasks.

Today, I commit myself to provide high-resolution data for mapping for humanitarian projects.

Welcome to the Southern Caribbean.

Juan F. Blanco-Libreros, MangleBlanco

Location: Sevilla, Comuna 4 - Aranjuez, Medellín, Valle de Aburrá, Antioquia, RAP del Agua y la Montaña, 050006, Colombia