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April - June 2014
are important events in a small island like
Palau where the emerging impacts of
climate change are even more of a reason
to manage the water we have today, in
order to secure our children’s future.”
Seeing community members involved
in the development of their own Water
Policy showed a commitment to the future
and made the policy development a truly
participatory process. Before this event I
wasn’t sure of people’s willingness to be
involved in high level meetings and policy
development; however during the Summit
I realised that with enough appropriate
information they do. As a result of attending
the National Water Summit people became
more aware of the issues facing water
resources in Palau, the need for a National
Water Policy and how it can alleviate
problems with water and sanitation, and
gave them a chance to participate in its
development.
Because of so many people attending
the summit, the Palau Water Policy can
now say it is representative of the visions
of the people of Palau. The meeting was
a catalyst to subsequent meetings that led
to the finalization of a National Water Policy
and its endorsement by His Excellency
President Johnson Toribiong in April 2011.
It was a great achievement for IWRM
because not only did it encourage people
to find out more about water resources
in Palau, it allowed us to tailor the Water
Policy according to the actual needs of the
Palauan people.
STAFF PROFILES
Litia Gaunavou
GIS/RS Project Assistant
Litia Gaunavou joined SOPAC in
2007 as an intern, first with the Geo-
science Development Programme
(formerly Ocean and Islands Pro-
gramme) before moving onto and
setting a professional foundation
within the GIS unit. Litia patiently
worked her way up from an intern
to a GIS/RS Project Assistant focusing on purchasing and pre-
processing of satellite imagery data. Born and bred in Suva, Litia
obtained her BSc in Marine Science from the University of the South
Pacific. She is currently enrolled as a Post graduate student major-
ing in Environmental Sciences and hopes to pursue a Masters in
Environmental Science concentrating on GIS and Remote Sensing.
Litia, through the GIS unit within the SOPAC Division of SPC, is the
focal point in liaising the purchasing, pre-processing and packaging
of satellite images between DigitalGlobe and the African, Caribbean
and the Pacific region. Outside of work, Litia enjoys quality family
time.
Where are you from and what was it like growing there?
My parents both hail from the Lau Islands so you could say that I am
a pure Lauan; though I have never step foot on it. I grew up here in
Suva and I am also now married to a Lauan man. My education life
was also spent in Suva to the point of obtaining my BSc in Marine
Science at the University of the South Pacific.
What’s your first memory of joining SOPAC?
My first memory, was when our GIS unit manager, Mr Wolf For-
streuter gave me an access database of all the satellites in and out
of orbit. I just started without any idea of the details until two years
later when I learnt that without knowing the satellites specs, you
wouldn’t know which satellite to use for which GIS application and
so forth.
How has your work at SOPAC evolved over the years?
I initially joined as an intern at the Geoscience for Development Pro-
gramme (formerly known as the Ocean and Islands Programme) but
found that my interest was in GIS. So I joined the GIS unit as an
intern assisting in image archiving, cataloguing every data we had in
a simple access database. I had to learn on the job as the software
used was different from what was taught at tertiary level and I would
like to thank the GIS staff then, Ms Joy Papao and Ms Elizabeth
Lomani for their moral support and encouragement. I then moved
to the position where I purchased and pre-processed image data;
liaising with the different satellite vendors and clients from all over
the Pacific on the suitable satellite image for their respective appli-
cations. I have observed the transition from the expensive process
of purchasing ready-made pan-sharpened imagery to developing
our very own pan-sharpened images, which is much more cost-
effective.
What do you wish other people knew about your work or
project(s)?
Liaising between vendors and clients on satellite images is not as
easy as going to a shop and buying something. The work is a com-
bination of business transactions and technicalities with respect to
the GIS aspect. One has to be knowledgeable and experienced
in the use of applications in processing raw satellite imagery data.
There is never enough stress on the attention to detail, particularly
with the legal binding agreements such as copyright issues. A slight
mistake can be very costly liable to me, the liaising person.
Congratulations to your team on winning the Partner Excel-
lence Award and the Innovation Award. Could you please ex-
plain why these awards are significant milestones?
Thanks! Not many people know that we (SOPAC) have a partnership
with DigitalGlobe, the world’s leading provider of satellite imagery
based in Colorado, USA. Every year, DigitalGlobe holds a Partner
Summit in the different regions and there are awards presented to
resellers according to the different regions that they sell the data to.
We (GIS Unit of SOPAC, SPC) took two awards this year − the Inno-
vation Award and the Partner Excellence Award for the ACP region.
Achieving these awards against other countries such as Australia
and New Zealand is a great achievement.
How does your work at the GIS section in SOPAC relate to
these awards?
Companies, organizations or countries within the Pacific region that
want to purchase satellite data must go through the SOPAC Divi-
sion if they want a generous discount. My work is to provide these
companies, organisations and member countries with technical ad-
vice on the type of satellite data to purchase and the procedures to
follow. I then liaise with DigitalGlobe in purchasing the satellite data,
pre-process this data to something usable before passing it on to
the interested party.
What are some of the things you do when you are not work-
ing at SOPAC?
My power source is my family so when I am not working, I can be
found relaxing with my husband and daughters.
Any advice to our younger readers?
Just follow your interest and something that you are most passion-
ate about.