Getting to Know the Conservation Solution

Global biodiversity is facing unprecedented threats from habitat loss, poaching, and climate change. These factors lead to increased fragmentation of critical habitats and loss of key species. As a result, many conservation organizations are starting to use technology to inform decision making and drive conservation intelligence.

The power of conservation intelligence is that we now have the tools to transform data in time for proactive management decisions that realign conservation with its intended outcomes.

Source: Naftali Honig Director of R&D, Garamba National Park, African Parks

Today, conservation technology is disconnected, specialized, and often insecure. Integrated, technology systems for managing and protecting natural areas are desperately needed to mitigate unprecedented threats from habitat loss, poaching, and climate change.

The Conservation solution includes a collection of ArcGIS solutions that can be used by conservation organizations to improve operations and effectively manage protected areas. This story map describes the capabilities provided in each solution and how you can leverage these capabilities in your organization.

Conservation agencies can quickly deploy, configure, and share the entire collection of conservation solutions outlined below; or configure and share an individual solution that meets their specific business needs.

The cornerstone of any protected area is ensuring the safety and integrity of its wildlife and natural resources. Poaching and other illegal activities harm the long-term sustainability of a protected area, which are often some of the most diverse in the world.

If a park is to become sustainable for the long-term, the security of the parks is a prerequisite for poverty alleviation, economic development, and for providing safety for all wildlife and their habitats.

Source: African Parks

24/7 access to information and the ability to respond to threats in real-time shifts the focus from where illegal activities have happened, to where illegal activity is about to happen. This accelerated approach improves the safety of wildlife and reduces risks associated with illegal activities in a protected area.

The Protection Operations solution includes a collection of maps and apps that can be used by protected area staff to capture and manage protection incidents in the field and monitor the status of protection operations within and around protected areas. This collection of maps and apps provides a modern way for protected area staff to log illegal activity and manage the resolution of each incident.

The Protection Incident Reporter can be used by field workers to collect detailed accounts of any observed illegal activity, evidence of illegal activity, or tips from the public about suspected illegal activity. This responsive survey can be used on a mobile device in a connected or disconnected environment.

Submit an illegal activity report and provide details (including incident type, activity observed, wildlife or resource impacted, location, photo) that will help protected area staff quickly address the illegal activity. 

Protection staff can use the Protection Incident Manager to review reported incidents and track an incident from submission to its completion. Sort incidents by a variety of key characteristics, such as Status or Incident Type. Select a specific incident and review incident details along with the location of the incident report. Update the incident status and assign it to the appropriate stakeholder for resolution.

The Protection Incident Dashboard can be used by protected area managers to monitor incident reports and the resolution of these reports. Relevant metrics can be viewed at a glance or examined in more detail if time permits.

Performance can be reviewed for all incident reports. Select an incident type, or evidence of a carcass, and review how many new incidents have been submitted in a given time period. Select an incident from the list and review incident details along with the location of the incident.

Protected areas contain some of the most spectacular wildlife in the world and the protection of their habitats from extreme pressures are critical. Routine wildlife surveys help protected area managers understand whether strategies they have implemented are having an impact. Monitoring survey information and trends derived from this information informs monitoring and protection plans.

Unless humanity learns a great deal more about global biodiversity and moves quickly to protect it, we will soon lose most of the species composing life on Earth.

Source: E.O. Wilson

The Wildlife Management solution includes a collection of maps and apps used by protected area staff to capture wildlife observations and monitor the status of wildlife populations within and around protected areas. This collection of maps and apps provide a modern way for protected area staff to capture wildlife observations and monitor wildlife populations in real-time. 

The Rapid Wildlife Reporter can be used by field staff to quickly capture wildlife observations in the field using a simple big button interface. The Wildlife Observation Reporter can be used by field staff to capture detailed wildlife counts, the health of observed animals, and photos of the observation. Both can be used on a mobile device in a connected or disconnected environment.

The Wildlife Observation Dashboard can be used by protected area managers to monitor all wildlife observations from the field. Relevant metrics can be viewed at a glance or examined in more detail if time permits. The Wildlife Observation Dashboard includes observations from the Rapid Wildlife Reporter and the Wildlife Observation Reporter.

Observations can be reviewed for multiple wildlife species. Select a wildlife species, or observation type, and review how many new observations were submitted in a given time period. Select an observation from the list to see valuable details and images. 

Local communities are at the heart of any protected area and ensuring a positive outcome for those local communities is key to its success. In some cases, wildlife conflicts have a negative impact on surrounding populations and the needs of local wildlife. Capturing location-based data when a conflict occurs helps protected area staff make informed decisions and mitigate future conflicts.

There's no way we can even attempt to save these precious Gombe chimpanzees unless we could improve the lives of the people living in that last little oasis of forest.

Source: Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of Peace.

The Conservation Outreach solution includes a collection of maps and apps that can be used by protected area staff to manage wildlife conflict incidents and monitor the status of outreach activities within and around protected areas. This collection of maps and apps provide a modern way for protected area staff to log wildlife conflict incidents and manage the resolution of each incident.

The Wildlife Conflict Reporter can be used by field workers to collect detailed accounts of wildlife conflict incidents. This responsive survey can be used on a mobile device in a connected or disconnected environment. Each wildlife conflict incident report includes detailed information about the assessment, type of wildlife conflict being reported, investigation requirements, and photos.

Community outreach staff can use the Wildlife Conflict Manager to review wildlife conflict incidents and track an incident from submission to completion. Sort incidents reports by a variety of key characteristics. Select a specific incident report and review details along with the location of the report. Update the incident report status and assign it to the appropriate stakeholder for resolution.

The Wildlife Conflict Dashboard can be used by protected area managers to monitor incidents reports and the resolution of these reports. Relevant metrics can be viewed at a glance or examined in more detail if time permits.

Performance can be reviewed for all incident reports. Select the assessment of an incident, or if an investigation is required, and review how many new incidents have been submitted in a given time period. Select an incident from the list and review incident details along with the location of the incident.

Protected area staff must provide key decision-makers with accurate and current information that communicates the scope of the field operations; the status of investigations; and wildlife observations. Using maps to brief key stakeholders ensures clear communication across all levels and enables effective executive-level decision-making.

The Protected Area Reports application can be used by protected area staff to analyze protected area data and generate relevant reports. The web application reflects real-time incident information and response activities maintained in the conservation applications.

Use real-time data to analyze hotspots or other trends and generate a report of field operations (for example, illegal activities, wildlife observation, conflicts). Once complete, share this information with key stakeholders.

When managing a protected area, there may be many incidents occurring simultaneously and access to real-time information is critical for protected area staff. Using location-based information to maintain complete, real-time situational awareness across a protected area ensures managers are able to stay aware of, and responsive to, rapidly changing conditions across the landscape. 

The Protected Area Dashboard can be used by managers to monitor poaching and illegal activity, wildlife observations, and wildlife conflict incidents in protected areas. It's a destination that organizes information captured during field operations and reduces the need for static hardcopy maps for protected area staff.

Select the appropriate tab (for example, Protection Incidents, Wildlife Observations, or Wildlife Conflicts) and view relevant metrics at a glance. Select an incident or observation from the list to examine details and status.

Parks improve quality of life, protect natural resources, and enhance local economies. Unfortunately, park agencies are increasingly burdened with overuse and many times the first agency to receive funding cuts during an economic downturn. As a result, they are continuously balancing park asset maintenance needs with available funding.

The first and most critical step park agencies must take to prioritize asset needs is to create a park asset inventory. A park agency cannot plan park improvements, maintain existing assets, and ensure guest safety unless they know what assets they have, where they are, and what condition they are in. 

Park Infrastructure Management can be used to inventory park assets, understand asset condition, and communicate changing asset conditions that impact park services.

In many cases, a field assessment of existing park assets may be the most efficient way to develop a park asset inventory. The information collected in the field can then be augmented with other descriptive information that helps park staff or the general public view park information easily. The Park Field Map can be used by park rangers to inventory, inspect, and maintain park assets in the field.

Existing park assets collected by park rangers in the field can be reviewed and information added to help park staff and the general public find information about a park. New park assets can also be added to a park asset inventory using imagery and record documents. The Park Asset Inventory app can be used by mapping technicians to create new park assets and review park assets collected by park rangers in the field.

Communicating the status of recreation opportunities helps visitors plan trips and reduces congestion and overuse of resources. The Recreation Closure Manager app can be used by public information staff to create and update recreation closures. This app is shared between the  Park Infrastructure Management  solution and the  Recreation Outreach  solutions. Recreation closures created with the Recreation Closure Manager app will be displayed in the recreation locators (Park Locator, Trail Locator, Water Resource Locator, Wildlife Resource Locator) included with the Recreation Outreach solution.

Soliciting requests for service from the general public as well as park staff is an important component of park operations. The Park Infrastructure Management solution includes two forms to submit park service requests, one form for internal staff such as park rangers and one form for the general public. As park service requests are submitted, park operations staff can use the Park Request Manager to triage submitted problem reports and update the status of each report.

Finally, the Park Request Dashboard can be used by park operations staff to monitor the status of park service requests.

When you deploy the  ArcGIS Solutions for Conservation  in your ArcGIS Organization, you will get a set of capabilities that help you track poaching and illegal activity, monitor the status of wildlife populations, and manage wildlife conflicts in and around protected areas.

These solutions will help your organization collect real-time information, monitor the status of protected area operations, and coordinate with local communities.

ArcGIS Solutions help organizations improve conservation operations and enhance ecosystem services for the public. Visit the  ArcGIS Solutions product page  for more information.