Ecoregions

Large-scale conservation planning efforts at WWF and throughout the wider conservation community have identified priority areas - regions with particular biological importance - for conservation investment. Within WWF's ecoregion programs, such priority areas - often referred to as landscapes or seascapes - are identified in the ecoregion's biodiversity vision. Once defined, the next important step is to develop cost-effective, spatially-explicit strategies that meet the ecological needs of wildlife and habitats while minimizing human-wildlife conflicts and maximizing benefits to resident populations. To assist in this effort the CSP has taken the lead in developing a landscape guide to assist practitioners in the field design a conservation landscape and implementing conservation strategies. This guide, From the Vision to the Ground (PDF Format, 2.99M), will help practitioners find answers to many of the questions threatening species and habitat conservation around the world.

To further assist WWF field staff and conservation partners, we've collected a set of resources and examples on many facets of landscape planning. They include:

• Web site links to biological data, planning tools, satellite imagery, & organizations
• Papers and resources

  on conservation design and landscape ecology

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Web sites

An important part of any planning process is the acquisition of data, resources, or finding answers to questions. We've attempted to compile a brief listing of Web sites, documents, and persons, which may help in the development of a conservation landscape.

Species & General Biodiversity Information

• IUCN Red List of threatened species
  Contains information on taxonomy, conservation status, and distribution.
• Animal Information Gateway
  Gateway to a variety of animal species information, threat status, distribution, and links to more specific species websites.
• IUCN Species Survival Commission
  Site contains general information on species, contacts for SSC specialist groups, and links to other SSC Web sites.
• Expert Center for Taxonomic Identification
  Site contains World Biodiversity Database with information on taxonomy and general information. Also contains World Taxonomist database, separated by specialization. Partly funded by UNESCO.
• Smithsonian's Mammal Species of the World
  Useful for taxonomy and literature citations.
• Tiger Information Center
  Site contains detailed information on tigers.
• European Molecular Biology Laboratory reptile database Contains taxonomic and distribution information.
• Amphibian Species of the World
  The American Museum of Natural History site contains taxonomic and general distribution information.
• AmphibiaWeb
  UC Berkeley site contains information on amphibian biology and conservation. Interactive map-driven database of all Ramsar sites, with information provided on each.
• NatureServe
  Site that provide range of biodiversity information for North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
• Woods Hole Research Center
  Site dedicated to conservation in Amazonia; contains large amount of datasets that can be downloaded.
• Gateway for information on U.S. efforts on invasive species
  Primarily focused on United States, but contains some international databases.
• FishBase
  A global information system on fishes, including taxonomy, and some distribution information.
• Reefbase
  Contains information system on coral reefs.
• LakeNet
  Site contains a vast array of information on lakes and freshwater systems.
• UNEP-WCMC world database on protected areas
  Contains summary information for protected areas, and searchable database.
• The Global Register Of Migratory Species
  Information on migratory species.

Satellite Imagery

• Landsat:
  • http://glcf.umiacs.umd.edu/index.shtml (free data; global extent)
  • https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/ (global extent)
  • http://www.bsrsi.msu.edu/ (North America and tropical areas)
• SPOT
• MODIS
• ASTER
• Landsat & ASTER imagery search
• Turner, W. et al. 2003. Remote sensing for biodiversity science and conservation. TRENDS in Ecology and Evolution. Vol 18(6): 306-314.

Decision Support Systems - Planning Tools

• SITES: Marxan (marine applications) & Spexan (terrestrial applications)
  • Marxan
  • Spexan
• C-PLAN
• IDRISI
• WORLDMAP
• GeoNetWeaver (PDF)

Socio-economic Sources

• UNESCO Man and Biosphere
• Biodiversity Support Program
• GAP Analysis
• Care International Toolkits
• IUCN publications
• UK International development
• Sustainable Livelihoods

Organizations

• World Wildlife Fund
• Biodiversity Support Program
• The Nature Conservancy
• Care International
• Conservation International
• Wildlife Conservation Society
• Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
• UN Environment Program (UNEP)
• UN Development Program (UNDP)

Conservation Planning Documents

• Angelstam et al. 2002. - Boreal forest biodiversity planning
• Bray et al. 2003. Conservation Biology 17(3): 672-677
• Community Conservation Coalition - CD-based resource kit: Putting Biodiversity Conservation in Context: Social Science Tools for Practitioners
• Groves, C.R. 2003. Drafting a Conservation Blueprint: A practitioners guide to planning for biodiversity. Island Press, Washington DC.
• Groves et al. 2002. BioScience 52(6): 499-512.
• Gutzwiller, K.J. 2002. Applying landscape ecology in biological conservation. Springer, New York, NY.
• Margules and Pressey. 2000. Nature 405:243-253.
• Poiani et al. 2000. BioScience 50(2): 133-146.
• Salafsky et al. 2001. Adaptive Management: A tool for conservation practitioners
• Sanderson et al. 2002. Landscape & Urban Planning 58: 41-56.
• The Nature Conservancy - Geography of Hope
• The Nature Conservancy - Enhanced 5S Framework for Site Conservation
• Turner, W. et al. 2003. TRENDS in ecology and evolution 18(6): 306-314
• Wildlife Conservation Society - Living Landscape documents
• World Bank- Beyond Fences
• WWF - Managing Large Conservation Programs guide
• WWF - Terrestrial ERC Workbook
• WWF - Freshwater ERC Sourcebook
• WWF - Interactive CD on ecoregional planning
• WWF - A guide to socio-economic assessments
• WWF - Integrating Forest Protection, Management, and Restoration at a Landscape Scale
• WWF- Stakeholder Collaboration: Building Bridges for Conservation
• WWF - Assessing Root Causes; A user's guide