Bird Inventory, Scientific Data, and GIS Platform Destined to Drive Habitat Protection Policies

Redlands, California—July 10, 2013—Esri and  the National Audubon Society are working on an initiative to provide geospatial data and map production abilities to Audubon’s 467 chapters, 47 education centers, and all 22 US state offices. Audubon will meld Esri’s cutting-edge GIS mapping technology with the latest scientific species data to study and reduce bird habitat losses.

Each Audubon state office, nature center and chapter will receive Esri’s ArcGIS software and access to a vast library of the latest authoritative data and scientific research via Esri’s GIS cloud platform, ArcGIS Online. Audubon will use the platform to study birds and other species by combining years of field data collected by Audubon scientists as well as government, academic, and wildlife protection nonprofits sources.

Esri transformed the face – or rather, the map – of the conservation movement two years ago with its incredibly generous donation of licenses, training and software to Audubon,” said Audubon president and CEO David Yarnold. “We couldn’t do what we do without Esri’s tools and support. From winning protection of 11 million acres in Alaska’s national petroleum reserve area, to bringing partners together to protect Pennsylvania’s Kittatinny Ridge, we rely on Esri’s tools. ArcGIS helps us answer tough questions, democratize data, and create a culture of collaboration. And now, as we roll out this technology even more widely across the Audubon network, we know that conservation results are going to increase significantly, thanks to Esri's partnership and generosity.”

All Audubon offices will be sorting through massive amounts of cloud-based data about bird and other species’ ranges, food sources, and shifts in bird demographics. GIS will enable them to combine this data with habitat, water, geology and land ownership data to study patterns and relationships. They can then assess changes and study environmental impacts on bird populations at local, national, and international levels.

The end value of technology comes from people adopting it,” said Jack Dangermond, president of Esri. “Our work with the National Audubon Society allows chapters to be the principal consultants for the public, provide advice and show important bird information on web maps. They can work with other conservation organizations to forward science.”

The largest, longest-running animal census on the planet is the Audubon Christmas Bird Count. Every winter, about 70,000 people join this famous citizen science project to compile and submit count data about local bird populations. This bird count has now been added to the National Audubon Society’s geodatabase. The 2013 count will be mapped with GIS and made available on an interactive website.

About the National Audubon Society

Now in its second century, Audubon connects people with birds, nature and the environment that supports us all. Our national network of community-based nature centers, chapters, scientific, education and advocacy programs engages millions of people from all walks of life in conservation action to protect and restore the natural world. Visit Audubon online at www.audubon.org and follow  @audubonsociety. 

About Esri

Since 1969, Esri has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in GIS, Esri software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. Esri applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world's mapping and spatial analysis. Esri is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. Visit us at  www.esri.com. 



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