Training: GIS Tools for Strategic Conservation Planning

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coastal Services Center and The Conservation Fund offer this course to teach students how to apply GIS tools, methodologies, and analyses to strategic conservation planning using a “Green Infrastructure” approach. By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Describe primary concepts and benefits of a Green Infrastructure approach to coastal conservation and broader land-use planning efforts;
• Define the goals, objectives, and parameters of a Green Infrastructure (GI) network and identify appropriate core data elements needed to design a GI network using GIS tools and methodologies;
• Choose and employ raster-based spatial analyses to design a coastal Green Infrastructure network using ArcGIS.

This will be a four-day course taught by staff from NOAA and The Conservation Fund. The format includes lectures, demonstrations, small group discussions, and hands-on problem-solving exercises. Participants will use ArcView 9x and Spatial Analyst software to apply principles of strategic conservation planning and address a realistic conservation scenario using GIS. Students will use data sets from coastal areas to develop conservation priorities and strategies.

Registration Deadline: May 22, 2009