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The Nature Conservancy's Spatial Data Resources |
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 Spatial data and related information plays a vital role in conservation at The Nature Conservancy (for more information on our conservation approach, click the image at right). 
A wealth of data is generated across the organization throughout various parts of the process from setting priorities through Ecoregional assessments to developing strategies, taking action and tracking results as part of Conservation Projects to managing information on properties we purchase to protect. The primary purpose of this site is to make this core conservation data publically available through easy-to-use web map viewers for non-GIS users as well as directly in raw form via map services for more experienced GIS professionals.Note these are public versions of the data, if you are TNC staff or partners; please click here for more information or contact the Conservation Data and Information Systems Team (  ) for access to the full versions of these data. Web Map Viewers: (what's this?)
These are map services for the public portion of each dataset. Each data layer will be available in several different formats to support users with different software (note that ArcGIS Explorer is free, and we have the data in both version 500 and version 900 format). To consume one of these services via WMS, right-click the WMS links and select "copy link location" (firefox) or "copy shortcut" (internet explorer) and use that in your web map.
Other Tools: To find out more about a variety of tools and resources which may be useful to conservation practitioners: http://maps.tnc.org/tools.html Data set descriptions: The Conservation Information Systems Strategy called for the development of three core spatial datasets across TNC. Click on the name of each dataset to jump to more information about it: 1. TNC Lands and Waters This dataset includes TNC tracts, easements (past and present), and leases. It includes spatial data from TNC operating unit databases and the Conservation Land System (CLS) database, which is the legal database of record for all TNC land transactions (fee, easement, lease and deed restrictions). The spatial dataset does not yet include all TNC land transactions stored in the legal database (CLS) since there is not currently a requirement to digitize spatial data except for easements. Boundaries (polygons) for our easements are only viewable by internal TNC staff, but points indicating their approximate location are viewable by the public. Click here for an ArcMap layer file for the public portion of this data set. For more information about this data, email Ty Guthrie (  ).2. Ecoregional Portfolio Over the past 20 years TNC has invested deeply in the development of over 150 ecoregional assessments(ERAs)The information collected in our ecoregional assessments is available to TNC staff via the Ecoregional Assessment Status Tool (EAST), which is not yet a public site. We have also compiled the first spatial dataset of all the terrestrial portfolio site boundaries delineated in North American ERAs. In collaboration with the North America Region (NAR) Science team, we are continuing to enhance the terrestrial portfolios dataset by attributing each terrestrial portfolio site with the ecoregional targets and natural communities documented in its ERA. This will enable NAR to leverage the ecoregional portfolio to influence policy and explore national partnerships. Longer term, we plan to create spatial datasets for freshwater and marine portfolio sites, and to integrate international portfolio sites and attributes into a truly enterprise ERA portfolio dataset for use across the Conservancy. Click here for an ArcMap layer file for the public portion of this data set.For more information about this data, contact Dave Smetana (  ).3. Conservation Projects A "conservation project" is defined as "a set of strategies taken by a defined group of practitioners working to achieve specific conservation goals and objectives for a set of conservation targets." Historically this has meant our Conservation Action Planning work, but is expanding to represent a wider range of TNC activities. The simplest way to view and manage this data is in the Conservation Project Database (ConPro, http://conpro.tnc.org), which is a searchable repository of the tabular portion of the dataset. It is accessible to the public, but TNC staff need to log in to see data that is marked as for internal use only (only about 15% of the data is public). The spatial portion of the data has a separate web map here: http://maps.tnc.org/ConProSpatial/. Where project boundaries (polygons) are unavailable points are used instead to show approximate location. The data can also be viewed and managed in the CAP Workbook or Miradi format, meaning that people can convert their CAP workbook data to Miradi and vice versa via ConPro. Click here for an ArcMap layer file for the public portion of this data set.For more details about this dataset, please see the conservation projects user guide. For more information about this data, contact Jon Fisher (  ).
For more information: TNC staff can visit the web page for the Conservation Data and Information Systems unit, which has much more detailed information about our core conservation datasets, as well as instructions for getting the full datasets (which include sensitive data, and are thus for internal TNC use only). For more information on our core conservation data, web viewers, or how we are utilizing enterprise GIS functionality, please contact Danielle Conboy (  ), CDIS Director, TNC Science.
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