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Increasing and Improving Natural Resources

Agriculture & Food Security - Illustrative projects

As agriculture increases to meet demands of burgeoning populations it removes an ever-increasing volume from ground- and surface-water resources. As developing and transition countries move from agrarian to agro-industrial economies, their use of water to meet the requirements of these industries also increases. On the upstream end, water is removed from the environment impacting availability. On the downstream end, effluents from these operations impact water quality. There is a need to effectively manage these withdrawals and effluents and their impacts on water quality and quantity.

The Heron Group currently has cores of expertise in: understanding and integrating the role of complex ecological, economic, and social issues in sustainable development; monitoring and evaluation; results-oriented strategic planning; organizational development and management; environment and natural resource economics and policy; knowledge-based decision support systems and information technology; technical support to forest health; technical support in managing knowledge; training; and meeting facilitation. Since incorporating in 1998, the Heron Group, LLC, has been awarded contracts including but not limited to: a) providing a forest pest management monitoring system in Siberia for USAID/Moscow's 5 year FOREST Project; b) training African and U.S. professionals in the use and application of knowledge engineering/decision support software NetWeaver™ and GeoNetWeaver™ that address complex issues related to the environment, agriculture, and natural resource management in Africa; c) applying knowledge engineering software (NetWeaver™) to community-based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) in Africa for USAID; d) applying knowledge engineering software (GeoNetWeaver™) to strategic planning and monitoring in USAID's Eastern Europe and Eurasia Bureau; e) facilitating a strategic research-planning workshop in Malaysia for the Sustainable Forest Management Programme of the International Center on Forestry Research (CIFOR); f) facilitating organizational development, team building, and management in a new unit in the East Asia and Pacific region for the World Bank; and g) integrating social and ecological information in a decision-support system for the USDA Forest Service.

Population growth causes increased pressures on natural habitats and the carrying capacity of environmental goods such as water, fish supply, and natural wastewater treatment, which impact food security and health. Country programs represented included the Philippines where coastal water management and fishery management rank as high priorities in country activities. As a result, community-based approaches must respond to specific roles that men and women play in water resource usage.