NASA and IUCN – The World Conservation Union, the
world’s largest environmental knowledge network, signed a
joint declaration today in Bangkok, Thailand, to use NASA
satellite data to help in worldwide conservation efforts.
The purpose of the joint declaration is to improve IUCN
access to NASA data, technology, images and remote sensing
products. IUCN members and commissions will incorporate the
data to help improve the quality and effectiveness of
environmental decision-making and to improve conservation
outcomes.
“This opportunity for NASA to help advance conservation
efforts globally reinforces our vision to use our unique
vantage from space to improve life here on Earth,” said
NASA’s Deputy Associate Administrator for Science Ghassem
Asrar. “Modern environmental and conservation decision-
support systems need access to good information.
Increasingly, these systems are using geospatial technologies
to provide decision-makers with a range of possible options
and, in the future, could be used to predict possible
outcomes,” he said.
IUCN is a unique union of more than 1,000 worldwide member
organizations. Its mission is to influence, encourage and
assist societies throughout the world to conserve the
integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure any use of
natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable.
“The potential for the beneficial use of this information in
the area of the environment and conservation is enormous,”
said IUCN Director General Achim Steiner. “Yet until now, it
has remained largely untapped, particularly in the developing
world,” he added.
Advances in technology have made NASA’s remote sensing data
and images accessible and affordable worldwide by most
organizations. IUCN has unparalleled access to a rich source
of conservation information and knowledge. Its global
membership ranges from small community-based nongovernmental
organizations to large scientific institutions, government
agencies and states, in both the developed and developing
world. This declaration is a critical first step in joining
NASA’s world-class expertise, data and information resources
with IUCN’s environment and conservation expertise, and its
unique global knowledge network.
NASA satellite data will be used in several IUCN support
systems for conservation, including the Species Information
Service, Protected Areas Learning Network (PALNet) and the
World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA).
IUCN’s Species Information Service is a worldwide
biodiversity and conservation management tool that includes
its Red List of Threatened Species, the world’s most
authoritative assessment of the conservation status of
animals and plants. NASA will help IUCN develop this globally
accessible, biodiversity database.
PALNet and the WDPA also will benefit from NASA data. Many of
the world’s 100,000 protected areas are poorly mapped, due to
inaccessibility and lack of resources. NASA’s satellite
imagery will enable creation of accurate maps. In addition,
the data will help create a “Protected Area Archive,” which
will be incorporated into PALNet and WDPA projects.
NASA data will also be provided under the IUCN Conservation
Commons Initiative on sharing environmental knowledge. NASA
is committed to sharing information and data with the general
public. The agency is working with some 40 other global and
regional partners to define and implement this innovative
knowledge-sharing initiative.
For more information about NASA on the Internet, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html
For more information about the IUCN on the Internet, visit:
