Detailed Agenda

NatureServe uses Esri technology to power biodiversity assessment in certified forests. From the analytics behind the Map of Biodiversity Importance to the new InSite by NatureServe platform, our enterprise GIS, web maps, custom applications, and java script APIs enable SFI and FSC-certified companies to identify high conservation value forests, protect imperiled species, and strengthen biodiversity reporting. We will share use cases from SFI, FSC, and their certificate-holders demonstrating how these tools turn science into actionable insights for sustainable forest management.

Forest managers, especially family forest owners, often face barriers to and need support with biodiversity assessment due to limited GIS access, data access and experience. FSC US is expanding its toolbox to deliver cost-effective, user-friendly mapping and decision-support solutions that build on resources like Esri’s ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World with GBIF data integration. Through partnerships with data providers like NatureServe and other aligned organizations, FSC US helps forest managers strengthen identification and conservation of environmental values as part of sustainable forest management.

The objectives of North American sustainable forestry include management for values such as protection of imperiled species and communities. Yet this requires access, analysis and interpretation of complex data and ecological expertise that is often beyond the capacity of foresters, loggers, and landowners. With increasing pressure on the forestry sector to measure and report on biodiversity, SFI and NatureServe have developed authoritative, accessible spatial data and tools that facilitate identification, management, and reporting of conservation values at both parcel and landscape scales.