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Learn QGIS with BNHR

About QGIS for SFLMA and Forestry Tenure Mapping

Learn how to prepare the maps, shapefiles, technical descriptions, and corner coordinates required for SFLMA and other forestry tenure applications using QGIS.

QGIS for SFLMA and Forestry Tenure Mapping is delivered as a 16-24 hour intermediate course designed to teach participants how to produce the digital mapping requirements of a Sustainable Forest Land Management Agreement (SFLMA) application, and other forestry tenure applications, following the Guide for the Standard Mapping of the Forest Management Bureau (FMB Memorandum dated 15 February 2024).

Every exercise works toward the four outputs that the guide requires and that must agree with each other:

  1. The map of the subject area, in the prescribed format and with the appropriate signatories
  2. The shapefiles of the area’s corners (point) and boundary (polygon), with the prescribed attributes
  3. The technical description (TD) in the standard bearing-distance format, with the tie point and tie line
  4. The computed coordinates of the corners

Who is it for?

Section titled “Who is it for?”

GIS focal persons, technical staff, and preparers of forestry tenure applications who need to produce DENR/FMB-compliant maps and technical descriptions, especially those who already have experience with QGIS.

Coverage

Section titled “Coverage”

Our instructor-led training courses cover the following:

  • Laying the foundation
    • What the standard mapping guide requires
    • Shapefiles for submission, GeoPackage for your work
    • Coordinate reference systems for tenure mapping: Luzon 1911, PRS 1992, and the national grid
    • Beyond files: managing applications as data
  • Preparing the area data
    • The prescribed shapefiles and their attributes
    • Plotting the application area from a technical description, a list of coordinates, or an existing layer
    • Validating geometries and filling in attributes
  • Technical descriptions and corner coordinates
    • Numbering corners and computing their coordinates with Add X/Y fields, as the guide prescribes, and when it is safe to use
    • Computing bearings, distances, and the tie line
    • Exporting the technical description and coordinates in the prescribed format
  • The prescribed map layout
    • The map of one application, saved as a reusable template
    • Letting the QGIS Atlas drive the layout
    • One layout for several applications
  • Cross-validation and quality control
    • Checking that the map, shapefiles, technical description, and coordinates agree
    • Final quality control before submission
    • Capstone: one application from plot to final

Data

Section titled “Data”

The exercises use a fictional SFLMA application prepared for this course: the Bagong Gubat Agroforestry Cooperative, applying for about 23.76 hectares in General Nakar, Quezon. All applicants, reference points, tenure holders, and land classification polygons in the training data are for training purposes only and do not represent any actual application or survey.

Participants of our instructor-led courses receive the BNHR_QGIS-for-SFLMA-Mapping folder, which contains:

  • data: the training data (a GeoPackage, the corner coordinates as CSV, and the input files for the Azimuth and Distance plugin)
  • outputs: the completed outputs of every exercise, including the projects and layout templates of the prescribed map

A second fictional application, the Luntiang Bundok Agroforestry Association, comes fully prepared for mapping several applications with one layout.

The administrative boundaries in the training data come from GADM version 4.1 and are indicative, not authoritative.

Certification and support

Join an upcoming training to take this as an instructor-led course, or contact us to arrange one for your team or organization.