Spatial Data Interest Community
NATURE-GIS
Geo-Information in Protected Areas and Nature Conservation
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Spatial Data Interest Community NATURE-GIS Geo-Information in Protected Areas and Nature Conservation
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The SDIC (Spatial Data Interest Community) gives the opportunity for a further exploitation of the successful outcomes of Nature-GIS that was a demonstration project for INSPIRE producing, among other deliverables, also a prototype thematic portal of geo-data for protected areas and nature preservation, compliant with the OGC provisions and in line with the INSPIRE principles.
Moreover, the SDIC is also aimed at enlarging and further promoting the Nature-GIS Network, established as outcome of Nature-GIS project and now gathering about 200 registered stakeholders. Nature-GIS Network represents a Community for contributing to the INSPIRE implementation process and to this purpose, Nature-GIS partners signed a Memorandum of Understanding in which they approved the creation of a thematic SDIC about GI.
Nature-GIS Community intends to offer its contribution along all the process of the INSPIRE Implementing Rules, both in the preparation phase and in the validation one. In particular, Nature-GIS can offer:
1) Support for a better link between scientists and users in order to:
favour public access to GI for Protected Areas and Nature Conservation to support the capacity of Protected Areas stakeholders in improving and rationalising the geo-information flow and communication, in line with the INSPIRE strategic view for coherent sources of information and services;
assure a GIS-oriented approach that is often restricted because of a lack of understanding and communication between GIS experts and end users. The communication will be improved by gathering/rationalising the efforts of operators and organisations and by better identifying specific needs of authorities in charge of environmental protection. A dedicated Community can help in meeting geo-information producers and users;
promote an interdisciplinary method addressing the collaboration among experts in different disciplines and offering to the users a support to exploit GIS in the field of Protected Areas. The aim is also to operate as a cluster of projects and initiatives related to the NATURE-GIS issues in order to exchange experiences and create synergies among these projects/initiatives.
2) Scientific expertise about:
Network services;
Data and Service Sharing.
3) Registered experts, namely in:
Development of Web applications for uploading and downloading spatial datasets for NATURA 2000 in all the possible roles of the GI flow (user, producer, co-ordinator); UML modelling; organizational, legal and business issues; cost benefit analysis
Data specification and spatial data sharing; temporal and trans-border problems; natural resources and ecology conservation; Environmental Impact Assessment; remote sensing & GIS.
Metadata and Data Specification with particular reference to Data Model for Protected Areas
4) Registered projects, further than Nature-GIS, namely about:
Natura 2000 and the GI component
GIS based on Internet Spatial Data Server for National Park
European South-Eastern Regional issues
RS and GIS in nature conservation
Forest Monitoring
Establishment of a nature protection observatory
GIS database specifications
Finally, the Nature-GIS Community intends to actively participate in the INSPIRE Implementing Rules preparation process, sharing experience acquired during Nature-GIS project and offering a real link between users and experts in the “GIS&Nature” field. The Nature-GIS Community will collaborate to diffuse their requirements in GIS data model, as follow-up of Nature-GIS project and the use cases implementation, to transfer its experience and cooperate for common standards. On the other side, the participation in the INSPIRE Implementation process can help in diffusing, among the Community itself, INSPIRE principles addressing the stakeholders to work in compliance with the SDI European standards, bringing thus the Community to a higher scientific and technological level.
If you need additional information or you wish to join the Nature-GIS SDIC do not hesitate to contact us!
Contact person: Giorgio Saio
Organisation: GISIG - Geographical Information Systems International Group
Address: Via Piacenza, 54 - 16138 Genova, Italy
E-mail: gisig@gisig.it
Phone: +39 010 8355588 - Fax: +39 010 8357190