Empowering community planning and action
As humankind's impact across the planet drives massive disruption to the natural resources that sustain life, communities and local people around the globe are mobilizing to become better stewards of the world around them. Adaptive community-based conservation planning is a local-level approach that helps community members better understand the importance of nature and protected areas, and leads to informed sustainable actions.
Local Voices, Local Choices: The Tacare Approach to Community-Led Conservation is an immersive journey into the efforts of Dr. Jane Goodall and her colleagues to genuinely understand communities' needs. They collaboratively developed local and sustainable strategies to improve the well-being of both the community and the natural world around them. Told through the authentic voices of Goodall's team at the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), the book shares insights on effective and empathetic approaches to community-based conservation informed by GIS conservation planning.
The Jane Goodall Institute's community-based conservation approach, called Tacare, started in 1994 as a project around Gombe National Park in Tanzania, where Goodall led her pioneering research on wild chimpanzees. Tacare encourages local community and government partnerships that create sustainable livelihoods while planning for and advancing environmental protection.
This approach achieves conservation goals and addresses threats by first consulting communities about their needs and priorities. Then, stakeholders work together to collaboratively plan for and implement land-use practices that support the community's own development, while also contributing to conservation.
Discover conversations on community-based conservation from global experts on the Esri and The Science of Where podcast
Steve Boyes, founder of the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project, discusses the effort to preserve the ecosystems of Botswana’s Okavango Basin and build resilience to the impacts of climate change.
In part one of this series, Laly Lichtenfeld, cofounder and CEO of African People and Wildlife, shares how technology assists inclusive conservation efforts that integrate community knowledge. Learn about the holistic relationship of community-based conservation.
In part two, Lichtenfeld explains why conservation strategy is most effective when it starts with engaging local communities. Learn how conservationists use data and technology to balance the relationship between people and nature to support community-based conservation planning.
Through a collaboration with leading conservation organizations working to advance community-based conservation, Esri has developed a collection of apps and learning resources to empower community-based conservation efforts around the world.
Enable citizen science with this collection of web and mobile applications. The apps allow community members to report animal sightings from a smartphone, manage all sighting information, and report other wildlife information and trends in support of community decision-making.
View community context information such as community landmarks and boundaries, lands and waters used by communities, and areas with wildlife and natural resources with this web application.
Assemble a community map from stakeholders with this collection of web and mobile applications. The apps enable sketching of landmarks, areas, and pathways important to community members, allowing all stakeholders' interests to be represented in community conservation activities.
Manage community stakeholder engagement with this collection of web and mobile applications. The apps enable community conservation organizers to collect, manage, and report on community stakeholder engagement and trends in support of community decision-making.
Explore community-based conservation apps and training resources designed to empower communities with ArcGIS software-based solutions for better understanding the natural world around them and engaging stakeholders to develop sustainable conservation actions.
Esri Blog
Learn how a passionate student modernized black rhino monitoring at Imire Rhino & Wildlife Conservation reserve to provide real-time shared awareness.
Esri Blog
Researchers in Africa are using geospatial technology to collect elephant tracking data and help farmers protect land with a nature-based solution.
INDUSTRY BLOG
The GIS lead at African People and Wildlife shares powerful community conservation planning examples of balancing tradition and technology.
ARCNEWS
The United States Department of State, the Earth Day Network, and the Wilson Center work together on an initiative to clean up the planet.
ESRI BLOG
Surfrider Foundation coordinated volunteers hoping to safeguard the environment and diminish the impact of the Huntington Beach oil spill.
ArcGIS Blog
The University of Botswana’s sprawling campus was a challenge to navigate, so a professor with a small group of students built a campus basemap.
For more than three decades, the Esri Conservation Program has provided technology and training assistance to conservation professionals around the globe.
