The need for data integration to address the challenges of climate change on the Guyana coast
Temitope D. Timothy Oyedotun, Helene Burningham
Abstract
Guyana's capacity to address the impacts of climate change on its coastal environment requires the ability to monitor, quantify and understand coastal change over short-, medium- and long- term. Understanding the drivers of change in coastal and marine environment can be achieved through the accurate measurement and critical analyses of morphologies, flows, processes and responses. This manuscript presents a strategy developed to create a central resource, database and web-based platform to integrate data and information on the drivers and the changes within Guyana coastal and marine environment. The strategy involves four complimentary work packages including data collection, development of a platform for data integration, application of the data for coastal change analyses and consultation with stakeholders. The last aims to assess the role of the integrated data systems to support strategic governance and sustainable decision-making. It is hoped that the output of this strategy would support the country's climate-focused agencies, organisations, decision-makers, and researchers in their tasks and endeavours.