National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis

NCEAS Working Groups

Conservation planning tools

Project Description

For the purposes of this working group, planning tools are software packages, including simple algorithms as well as decision-support systems, that are used to guide decisions about conservation action. These tools use data on the distribution of biodiversity within planning regions but might also use other data such as geographic adjacency or proximity, past land use, threats, and expected costs of conservation. The main goals of the working group are to: (1) produce a review of conservation planning tools and techniques to inform present and potential users about their applications, advantages, limitations and appropriateness for particular planning problems and circumstances; (2) review current and potential approaches to combining expert judgements and data analysis in the application of planning tools; and (3) make planners and managers aware of the potential and limitations of planning tools for dealing with the problems they encounter.

Working Group Participants

Principal Investigator(s)

Robert Pressey

Project Dates

Start: April 7, 2003

End: September 1, 2003

completed

Participants

Sandy J. Andelman
University of California, Santa Barbara
Mohamed Bakarr
Conservation International
Richard M. Cowling
University of Port Elizabeth
Patrick Crist
NatureServe/Association for Biodiversity Information
Frank W. Davis
University of California, Santa Barbara
Dan Faith
Australian Museum
Craig Groves
Ricardo Machado
Conservation International
Stephen Polasky
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Hugh P. Possingham
University of Queensland
Robert Pressey
New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service
Chuck Revelle
Ana S. L. Rodrigues
Conservation International
Sahotra Sarkar
University of Texas, Austin
David M. Stoms
University of California, Santa Barbara
Paul Williams
Natural History Museum, London
Kerrie Wilson
University of Melbourne

Products

  1. Presentations / 2003

    Use and application of conservation planning software. Workshop on summary of issues from the NCEAS international working group on conservation planning tools

  2. Presentations / 2004

    History and development of conservation planning tools: Limitations of conservation planning tools and future directions for R&D

  3. Presentations / 2004

    Introduction to conservation planning software: Demonstration of two software systems for conservation planning using data from the Cape Floristic Region (C-Plan and MARXAN). Presentation on issues for implementation and the roles of conservation planning software