Hansa Luftbild is currently developing a strategic concept to establish a geo information system in a province of a country in the Middle East. The sustainable protection of the natural resources and the development of the province under the aspect of eco-tourism are the objectives of the project. Comprehensive geodata are to be acquired and subsequently implemented into an information system in the shape of a master plan (Natural Resources Management Plan).

A first step toward these goals consists in planning a targeted geodata-infrastructure and designing a concept to load the system with the essential basic data.

The geodata available are mostly, as is frequently the case in threshold countries, either incomplete or outdated. Apart from the topographic and geometric basics, landscape data, such as comprehensive information pertinent to land use, geohydrologic data, soil data etc. will be gathered and converted into a uniform format.

This long-term strategy can only be realized by the development of forward-looking structures and the application of modern information technologies. Therefore, not only loading the system with data is in a state of planning, but also the comprehensive establishment and implementation of GIS at the province's administration. This also includes creating a GIS periphery and training of all user groups involved.

Hansa Luftbild has also elaborated a comparative study for a russian national park. A planning base for this area covering a space of approximately 2,200 km² needs to be provided, in order to accomplish GIS-based planning of the national park.

First, in the course of a comprehensive landscape analysis, the biotope types will be mapped on the basis of CIR aerial images, covering as much space as possible. A cartographic code has already been developed for the various types of vegetation and land use, which is adapted to the natural environment, its plant sociology and, most certainly, the language of the people.

The soil, geology, water, climate/air as the essential natural factors will also be surveyed and evaluated, along with particularly distinctive cultural assets. Cartographic representation of the area will be done on a scale of 1:50,000. The digital data constitute the basis for the establishment of the geodata-base which will be used by the administration of the national park.