Cutting-Edge Software Expands AWF Mapping for Conservation

Much of AWF's conservation work on the ground centers around these three questions: where do groups of wildlife migrate? Which routes do they use? And when? When we need answers to these questions, we turn to GIS.

GIS (Geographic Information System) is a system of hardware and software used for storage, mapping, and analysis of geographic data. Working with AWF GIS specialists, our field staff can now get instant data on any species they are working with. First, they use satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates to pinpoint the exact position of their target animals. Then, that position is overlaid with a wealth of data on everything from terrain features and water levels to human population density to create exact pictures of not only where the animals are, but what conditions they face.

With support from the Rockefeller Foundation and USAID, AWF created GIS laboratories in Nairobi, Kenya and Kasane, Botswana in 2002. AWF can now implement conservation strategies with greater speed and precision. By juxtaposing conservation targets and threats using GIS, land managers and planners have refined their understanding of conservation challenges. This enables them to target interventions more effectively.

AWF's GIS team is celebrating the arrival of new software that will help extend both AWF's GIS capacity and impact. Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), the GIS industry standard, has provided AWF with state-of-the-art software and enough of it to fully stock AWF's GIS labs - and with plenty of room for growth. Valued at US$70,000, the software comes as a grant from the ESRI Nonprofit/Conservation Grants Program.

So what will this do for AWF? These powerful tools will enable GIS staff to manage, analyze, and present spatial data in faster, more effective ways. Customized programs will enable the automation of common tasks and the exploration of relationships between disparate datasets to help answer questions such as, where is the best wildlife habitat? With the same software available to all, coordination between GIS staff will improve, standardizing maps to make them more accessible to all of our international staff. Finally, there are enough licenses to accommodate growth in AWF capacity both within current labs and allowing the creation of new ones.

With GIS, AWF is gradually transforming its approach to landscape-level wildlife conservation, making sure Africa's wildlife and wild lands will endure forever.

Learn more about Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI)