Nature management andData management

Nature management andData management

Gudrun WallentinGudrun WallentinFlorian FischerFlorian Fischer

Austrian Academy of SciencesAustrian Academy of SciencesResearch Unit GIScienceResearch Unit GIScience

Nature and Data – an old issue?

Alexander v. Humboldt 1769 - 1859

Preservation of

„scenic beauty“

Protection of species

Protection of biotopes

IntegratedManagement

Paradigms of Nature Protection

1850 19501900 2000 (Brüggemann, 2003)

Paradigm Shift for PA Management

1962 2003central administration

individual PAstrict categories

part of a system,corridor

various involved parties, alliances

protection as single purpose

managed like an island

embedded in the region

additional social and economic purposes

state financed scenic beauty increasingly cultural, scientific, economic reasons

financed by diverse resources

managed by experts, academics

preservation also: renaturation, rehabilitation

interdisciplinary teams, cooperation

planning without the local population

reactive management,short planning interval

adaptive management, long-term perspective

management for / including the local population

Integrated Management needs……an integrated view across various

themes ( Spatial information)

…easy solutions to exchange and process spatial information

What is special about spatial?Spatial information integrates

informationen from various themes by geo-reference

Spatial informationen allows a differentiated and comparative view on PAs

Five goals of PA managementNature ProtectionRecreationEducationResearchSustainable Development

Nature protection All activities that conserve or enhance the state and the dynamics of natural landscapes

Need for spatial informationSurvey and monitor the state of species and biotopes.(as-is analysis)Defining „nature-priority“ areas, e.g. Nature2000 network (spatial planning)

Need for spatial information I

Recreation All activities that facilitate or intensify the recreational value of a protected area

Need for spatial information Directing the visitor distribution to maximise the recreational value, and to minimise detrimental impact (visitor management)

Need for spatial information II

Education All activities directed towards a visitor that inform, rise awareness and stimulate critical thinking to evoke nature-friendly behaviour

Need for spatial informationVisualisation is a commonly understandable, often used and powerful tool in environmental education (geovisualisation)

Need for spatial information III

Research All activities to document and monitor the state of a protected area and to contribute to decision making and problem solving

Need for spatial informationProtected areas are an explicitly spatial approach to nature conservation. Thus research activities in protected areas mostly have and can be connected by its geo-component (location matters).

Need for spatial information IV

Sustainable development All activities that contribute to a sustainable coexistence of man and nature in the region of a protected area

Need for spatial information Bringing everything together: top down or with public participation (location connects domain expertise)

Need for spatial information V

Need for Datamanagement in PAs Describing the status-quo Planning and zonation of Protected Areas Management to meet conservation targets Decision-making to assist public authorities,

stake-holders and politicians in their work (e.g. EIA) Monitoring to document changes and control the

success of management measures Information/Involvement of the public

(participation) e.g. database for Biodiversity in the „Haus der Natur“, Salzburg

Reporting to financiers, state authorities, other managers, Alpine Convention, EU

Reality check: NP Berchtesgaden Spatial data is stored in a file-based GIS 450 different themes Research in cooperation with/by external

institutions Takes into account the various tasks of NP

administrations Integrated data-model for NP

administration is needed

NP Berchtesgaden – Data-Structure Need to incorporate

spatio-temporal data Enhancement of

attribute data Easy exchange of

data

Reality check: NP Bavarian Forest Information flow to different

research institutions Information flow between

research and practitioner and the general public

Basic geodata from the BavarianMapping Agency

Aim: Use GIS in all areas of management, also for non-specialists

Processing and distribution of research results for different markets (researchers, forest practitioners, politics, general public) is not without problems.

Operating System

GIS-Hardware (z.B. Digitizer)

GIS-Software

GIS Add ons

Geodatabase

Needs for data exchange

NPResearch

General public

Practitioner Consultant

Administration

NGO

Politics

The administrative perspective

Administration

NP

NP

NP NP NP

NP

NP

Affordances on spatial data in nature-management Accessibility to information about nature for everybody Availability of free data to ensure public access to

public data Data Harmonisation to combine and compare data

from different sources and across borders Semantic data modelling to add meaning to the

provided data Geoprocessing tools to retrieve information from data Adaptive level of scale and detail to answer the

question at hand Usability of the geoportal to facilitate the effective use

also for non-experts Time series to monitor change Possibility of interaction to enable public participation

Problems of data exchange and data retrieval Different formats and different vendors Lost in conversion & lost in translation Search for available data is almost

impossible for external partnersData qualityData usability

Data transfer by email, compact disk? Regular integration of external data in own

GIS system is necessary Updating and versioning

INSPIRE Implementation – a chance Geo-Webservices Standards Harmonisation of data sets Common Application Schemes

Individually extensibleMatching on different user needs

Geoportal (as Geospatial One-Stop)

Thank you for your attention!

www.oeaw.ac.at/GIScienceGudrun.Wallentin@oeaw.ac.at

Florian.Fischer@oeaw.ac.at