Allan “Kaf” Smith : A tribute from the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute

Photo 1: Kaf is discussing small island vulerability to climate change with journalists, artists and CSOs and in Laborie 2007.

Allan Smith, who died on 24 March 2010, has been associated with CANARI and ECNAMP almost since the beginning. Kaf, as we knew him, first came to Saint Lucia in the early 80s to work on an IDRC-sponsored project on seaweed cultivation, and soon after began to offer his services to ECNAMP, making his outstanding photographic skills available to the Maria Islands Nature Reserve in Saint Lucia and providing expertise to many field projects. In 1985, he joined the staff of ECNAMP, and he remained closely associated with ECNAMP and CANARI until his death.

Kaf’s contribution to the work of CANARI has been unique and tremendous, because of what he did and because of the way he did it. He was rigorous and focused, always anxious to explore new concepts and use new instruments, always wary of superficial and trendy ideas. In an organisation that has, for most of its existence, focused on the “soft” aspects of natural resource management, such as governance and participation, Kaf was the voice of science and measurement, the advocate of rigour and method, the link between scientific and popular systems of knowledge.

While Allan Smith is indeed best known and respected as a biologist, he has, in many respects, been one of the early explorers and practitioners of the linkages between natural resource management and poverty reduction. He never used the rhetoric of “pro-poor” development, but he practiced it before it became fashionable, with highly innovative work in support of communities and users of natural resources, pioneering seaweed cultivation in the Caribbean, developing close relationships with fishers and farmers in many parts of the region, or helping charcoal producers and forest users to develop sustainable harvesting methods.

In recent years, Kaf devoted much of his talent and energy to the testing and application of user-friendly tools for natural resource mapping and geographic information systems. He was one of the first inventors and users of kite photography for mapping and monitoring, and a strong believer that such tools could be made simple and accessible to many, especially to the communities that depend on natural resources for their livelihoods.

All this means that Kaf was a very special kind of colleague. Being in the field with him was exhilarating. His enthusiasm for whatever technology he was developing at that time was infectious, he had so much interesting knowledge to share, and bumping along in his trusty Land Rover on the way added to the feeling of adventure. We always knew that Kaf’s contribution to CANARI was unique, and we realize now how much he influenced our own understanding of development and approach to the work we do.

As a tribute to Kaf’s work and in order to ensure that it is continued in the region, CANARI has decided to create the Allan Smith memorial participatory mapping course, a training event that will be held periodically and will help disseminate the methods and approaches that Allan Smith believed in and developed.

Photo 2: Kaf is training environmental managers from the region in Participatory GIS mapping, St. Lucia 2005.

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