Problem:  How do we prioritize lands for protection within an entire landscape?

 Solution:   GIS can be used to develop simple or complex models of how natural factors work singly and together, which can then result in maps that graphically show those rankings. Simple models can use visual overlays to sketch a sense of the richness of certain areas – these can then be flagged for review by experts and the results of those assessments can in turn refine the GIS analysis. 

A more robust approach might assign weighted values to different types of natural features (particular forest types, riparian corridors, species occurrences) and then produce a fine “grid” showing the relative significance of particular “cells” of landscape. Further, GIS can be used to model the likely pathways of certain animals, allowing for ranking of the ease or difficulty of each pathway, in order to highlight areas of greatest connectivity value.

GreenInfo Network offers these specific conservation planning services, provided by either our staff or associates:

• Ecological Assessments:  Collect, summarize and integrate available data for a region or a site, including base map data, property lines, landscape factors, and evaluation of ecological significance (element occurrences and gaps, etc.).
  
  
• Conservation Plans:  Using the assessment as a foundation, prepare a conservation plan, in collaboration with the project sponsor. The plan can include scenarios and as well as ranking of key factors, leading to an overall synthesis of priorities. Strategies for protection are then recommended, along with specific implementation programs.
  
  
• Basic Display Mapping:  Many land trusts work with GreenInfo Network to prepare maps and analyses of their areas of focus. At right are maps that illustrate this work (top to bottom) -- the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST), the Land Trust of Napa Valley, the Tri-Valley Conservancy and the Lakes Region Conservation Trust.

 Other examples of conservation planning and GIS:

• The Land Trust of Napa County’s conservation assessment – read more...
  
  
• Save the Redwoods League’s conservation planning system – read more...
  
  
• The Monterey County Agricultural and Historical Conservancy (MCAHC), bottom right, has developed some unusual strategies for securing farmland in areas of Monterey County, California. By analyzing growth patterns, agricultural land quality and other factors, they have secured “key parcels” that can help redirect growth and save valuable farmland.
  
  
• The Menodcino Land Trust (bottom) has prepared a comprehensive conservation plan under the guidance of a conservation planner who worked with GreenInfo Network to develop needed GIS analysis and display mapping.