A successful test run of a cool new conservation planning tool

A 2023 pilot project showed that a new conservation planning tool, called Where To Work, is effective, fast and user-friendly. The tool prioritizes where in a landscape to deploy conservation efforts for maximum effect. Guided by user-specified criteria, it draws on various datasets about climate, soils, vegetation, water, species and more, to rapidly generate a conservation priority map. The tool allows users to test different scenarios and get the map output in real-time, which is a big help for planners and stakeholders during plan development. Where To Work is one of the open-access conservation planning tools developed by the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) and Carleton University. The pilot project, led by Katelyn Ceh with NCC, successfully used this tool in creating a new landscape conservation plan for Alberta’s Aspen Parkland/Boreal Fringe, a key region for conservation of waterfowl and other wildlife. View article.

Science Matters. Through our Science Fund, the Alberta NAWMP Partnership supports research towards achieving our vision of maintaining healthy prairie, parkland and boreal landscapes that support sustainable bird populations and provide ecological and economic benefits to society.

We are grateful to everyone who contributes to this work and for their willingness to enable us to profile their research through our Science Stories Series. For additional Science Stories, visit https://abnawmp.ca/science/#science-stories. For further information regarding their work, contact the researchers directly or email the Alberta NAWMP Partnership Coordinator.