Wild World
Camera Trap
The Wild Things
Travel
Adopt a Polar Bear
Support WWF
|
 |
Conservation Science
Using Mapping Software for Conservation
Using Mapping Software for Conservation
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a software tool that enables us to map the landscapes where we work, analyze the vast amount of information that conservation requires, and even predict the impact of certain threats – such as roads or bridges – on the species that live there. GIS can be used to guide conservation management decisions, inform communities about an environmental issue in their locale and affect government policy decisions regarding the establishment of a national park.
WWF is using GIS technologies to influence conservation in many parts of the world. In the Amazon Basin, a team of scientists and GIS specialists recently teamed up to create a common vision in the region to focus their conservation efforts. Using GIS and data on terrestrial and freshwater habitat, they determined the most important areas to conserve to maintain habitat diversity. Now, with a common vision and a set of high priority conservation landscapes for the Amazon, they can more effectively work with governments to recommend appropriate management in these areas.
Amazon ecological priority areas, classified by their conversion risk.
© WWF 2008
GIS and species conservation
Here, two Indian – or Bengal tigers are pictured. The Bengal tiger is the most numerous of all tiger subspecies.
© WWF-Canon / Martin HARVEY
One of WWF’s biggest priorities is saving the wild tiger. In Asia, a group involved in tiger conservation wanted to know where the last remaining areas are for this species, and which of these are the highest priorities for investment. To answer these questions WWF, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the Smithsonian and Save the Tiger Fund (STF) undertook a GIS project to map these areas. This required vast amounts of data – including tiger observations, land cover, human impact, conservation effectiveness, and level of threat – to ultimately reveal 76 remaining tiger conservation landscapes in Asia. The study also revealed that tigers occupy only seven percent of their historic range, increasing the urgency for conservation effort and investment.
WWF is also integrating GIS into its climate-related work, trying to predict the impacts of climate change before it occurs. In Bangladesh, GIS is being used to determine the impact of sea level rise on the Sundarbans, a globally important wetland and last remaining habitat of the Bengal tiger. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that sea level will rise by 32 cm by 2050 in this part of the world, making this area particularly vulnerable. And in the Eastern Himalayas, a group is trying to predict the impact of climate change on the high alpine habitat of the snow leopard.
Building GIS capacity around the world
A student in a WWF beginner course in conservation GIS, held in Morogoro, Tanzania, April 2008.
© WWF / Jessica FORREST
Understanding the power of GIS for conservation, the WWF Conservation Science Program recently launched a network-wide capacity building initiative in GIS in 2007. The purpose of this initiative is to improve the ability of WWF programs globally to integrate GIS into their conservation activities through training, software grants, and improving access to technical support, with a curriculum that includes courses for managers, future GIS analysts, and people interested in applying GIS for climate change. So far this year, GIS network trainings have been run in east Africa, the Mekong, the United Kingdom and the U.S. – with the idea that as more staff are trained to use the tool globally, our ability to influence conservation in these places will also improve.
created June 2008
Click the globe to explore WWF's work
Fuller Symposium 2009
Conservation First Hand
News and Updates
Take Action
Take action through WWF's Conservation Action Network, where you can speak out for wildlife and wild places around the globe.
Read more
