World Conservation Basemap & World Atlas of ConservationProject Team workspace
Concept Summary
September, 2008
The National Geographic Society proposes to convene a consortium of global and regional conservation organizations to create a state-of-the-art world conservation resource of unprecedented scope for the free and open sharing of conservation-related geospatial information and related content. The Base Map and Atlas will be a key expression of the principles of the Conservation Commons.
The initiative has two primary components:
World Conservation Base Map
The World Conservation Base Map is a collaborative effort to compile, integrate, and share a set of foundational geospatial data sets and web map services to support conservation science, planning, management, and education. Availability of these base map layers will encourage coordination and integration of conservation GIS efforts at regional, national, and international scales.
Data themes would include * :
• Parks and Protected Areas (e.g. national parks, wildlife sanctuaries)
• Conservation Action Sites (e.g. NGO projects, World Bank projects)
• Ecosystems (e.g. forest types, marine habitats, ecoregions)
- Satellite imagery
- Shaded relief and bathymetry
- Water bodies
- Administrative boundaries
- Places and place-names
- Transportation
The data would be freely accessible for non-commercial use. License fees would be charged for commercial use, and shared among the partners to help fund the initiative. The consortium would recruit and support individuals and organizations as stewards of individual data themes.
World Atlas of Conservation
A public-facing website will feature rich interactive maps integrated with geo-enabled multimedia content to tell the story of conservation in dramatic new ways. The Atlas will be designed to support education and inspire conservation interest and action by the general public. Partner organizations will be able to incorporate views of the Atlas into their websites to illustrate their own articles, places, and topics. Conversely, articles on partner websites will be geo-tagged and featured within, or linked to, from the Atlas. Map content will come from the World Conservation Base Map and other sources. Multimedia content will come from National Geographic, conservation organizations, and other partners, including the International League of Conservation Photographers.
This richly interactive map-based resource will enable the conservation community to create compelling narratives spotlighting key regional and global issues. It will present important data sets from participating organizations to a broad public for the first time, and it will celebrate an increasing consensus within the global conservation community—a consensus brought about in part by the accumulation of geographic information by conservation professionals.
National Geographic will assist in the marketing and distribution of the World Atlas of Conservation through its website and its multiple media outlets in the United States and around the world. National Geographic’s Education and Children’s Programs division will work to integrate the Atlas into K-12 curricula, leveraging its network of Geographic Alliances in most U.S. states and Canadian provinces. National Geographic will also work to incorporate sustainable tourism concepts into the initiative, working with the Society’s Center for Sustainable Destinations.
Possible Phase 1: Atlas of Conservation Action
A suggested first phase of the Base Map and World Atlas efforts would focus on Conservation Action Sites as the key base layer. This would enable the creation of an Atlas of Conservation Action that would feature the footprints and descriptions of places where conservation action and investment are taking place (i.e. Conservation Action Sites). The Atlas would support education and inspire conservation action, collaboration, and investment by philanthropists, conservation practitioners, and the general public. Conservation project managers would be able to publicize their work to attract supporters and collaborators. They will also learn about similar projects nearby or around the world. Local communities can get involved to promote sustainable tourism and environmental products and services, including environmental offsets. Views of projects can be tailored to different audiences and purposes including education, philanthropy, travel, investment, and knowledge sharing. Content will be nominated by local project managers and NGOs and curated by National Geographic and its editorial partners.
Potential Custom Multimedia Atlases
The framework and platforms described above can be customized and re-skinned to create multimedia atlases for any topic, geography, or organization. This might include, for example, an Atlas of Great Apes, Atlas of the Amazon, or Atlas of the Wildlife Conservation Society. National Geographic could partner with specific organizations to produce these custom websites. Pursuing specific opportunities for custom atlases can help enable the larger Conservation Base Map/Atlas vision. The LandScope America website, a collaboration between National Geographic and NatureServe and launching in late 2008 at www.landscope.org, is an example of a custom multimedia atlas.
Contacts:
Allen Carroll, Chief Cartographer, National Geographic Maps - (202) 857-7799
Frank Biasi, Director of Conservation Projects, National Geographic Maps - (202) 857-7248
Documents:
Summary document (two-page PDF)
2005 Proposal (3mb, 24-page PDF, needs a major revision, especially the budget)
Discussions - Please provide input!
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