The National Geographic
World Conservation Base Map
A Proposal
Prepared for
The MacArthur Foundation
By
The National Geographic Society
1145 17th Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
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National Geographic World Conservation Base Map Proposal
Contents
Executive Summary
The Concept
Components of the World Conservation Base Map
Building and Maintaining the World Conservation Base Map
Benefits to the Conservation Community
Who Would Use the World Conservation Base Map and How
How the World Conservation Base Map Would Work
Key Partners
Conservation Base Map Data Layers and Sources
Preliminary Budget
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Executive Summary
The National Geographic Society proposes to spearhead a collaborative effort to build a
resource of historic significance: the first accurate, widely accessible, regularly updated
digital map of the world for use by the conservation community, scientists, and educators.
The base map will be a seamless, global database at a scale of 1:1,000,000. It will utilize
geographic information systems (GIS) technology and will be accessible via the Internet
for viewing and downloading data.
The base map will include features of basic geography, including roads and railroads,
populated places, international and provincial boundaries, shorelines, and rivers.
Additional basic features will include watersheds, elevation information, and land cover.
Thematic layers will be incorporated into the base map, including protected areas,
population density, species ranges, ocean bathymetry, and satellite imagery. Although
much of the basic geographic data will be derived from a U.S. government source (the
National Imagery and Mapping Agency’s VMap Level Zero), the compilation and
maintenance of the base map will be highly collaborative in nature. Thematic layers will
be hosted and maintained by partner organizations, and integrated into the base map
using Internet and GIS technologies. Enhancement and maintenance of the data resource
will also be broadly distributed among the project’s partners and other participants.
The World Conservation Base Map will be created and maintained in four overlapping
phases. The main activity of the first phase will be the compilation of the basic map
features such as shorelines, roads, towns, and cities. Phase two will integrate additional
data layers (imagery, elevation, etc.) into the resource. The third phase involves
development of the web applications for viewing and downloading base map data. Phase
four will institute a process for ongoing maintenance, revision, and enhancement of the
data.
An advisory group made up of the major partner organizations will periodically review
policy issues and strategy. The group will also review and approve map updates, new
data layers, and technological improvements.
The World Conservation Base Map will be used by conservation planners, biologists,
taxonomists and collections experts, natural resource planners, and educators for a host of
purposes. Benefits to conservation organizations will include reduced cost and effort in
compiling map information, and ease of sharing and analysis of data. The base map will
serve as a catalyst for consensus, and will spur future research by highlighting gaps and
interrelationships to its users. It’s public “front end” via the Internet will be a powerful
outreach tool to the educational community and the general public.
Primary partners on the project include Conservation International, Environmental
Systems Research Institute (ESRI, the leading provider of GIS software), The Nature
Conservancy, NatureServe, United Nations Environment Programme, World Resources
Institute, and World Wildlife Fund.
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The Concept
In recent years conservation organizations have embraced cartography and geographic
analysis as important tools in support of their efforts to identify and protect earth’s living
resources. Technologies such as geographic information systems (GIS), satellite imagery,
Global Positioning System (GPS), and networked computing have vastly increased the
power of mapping and spatial analysis. Scores of conservation organizations have
harnessed this power to compile extensive map-based resources ranging in scope from
global to local. As these efforts increase, so does the opportunity to integrate
conservation mapping data into a unified whole, and to share and distribute the
knowledge they represent to the conservation community and to the public at large.
However, a vital component is missing: a common GIS “base map” on which to build
and share conservation information. Amazingly, an accurate, widely accessible, regularly
updated digital map of the world for use by scientists and the conservation community
does not yet exist. If this map resource were available, it would facilitate the compilation
and sharing of worldwide biodiversity and conservation data, and arm conservation
professionals with a powerful tool for planning and management. The map would
complement existing and planned initiatives within the conservation community by
providing improved spatial data and geographic services from an independent, trusted
source.
The National Geographic Society, as an independent, non-profit scientific and
educational organization with a respected cartographic tradition spanning nearly ninety
years, is ideally suited to spearhead this effort. The Society would work in partnership
with major conservation organizations, including The Nature Conservancy, NatureServe,
Conservation International, World Resources Institute, World Wildlife fund, and the
Society for Conservation GIS, and with ESRI (Environmental Systems Research
Institute), the world's leader in geographic information systems software, to produce and
maintain this resource.
The base map, in the form of GIS data, would be compiled at a scale of 1:1,000,000. It
would be made available free of charge to conservation organizations and educational
institutions. This base map would provide a framework on which scientists and natural
resource planners could delineate natural features and phenomena, chart human impacts
and global change, and facilitate coordinated conservation decision-making. The value of
this map for science and resource management will increase exponentially as data layers
are added and updated by many organizations and individuals, and as accuracy and
resolution are improved over time. Data sales for commercial uses would help offset the
cost of database maintenance.
The map and its growing constellation of "overlays" (conservation-related mapping data)
would be made publicly accessible to a worldwide audience by the National Geographic
Society and partners through their web sites and map services. The base map would be
National Geographic World Conservation Base Map Proposal
frequently updated, incorporating changes in shorelines, river courses, boundaries, cities
and towns, transportation, and other features.
The base map would be updated and maintained collaboratively. Partner organizations
and other key data providers would submit changes via the Internet to the database for
consideration by National Geographic and its advisory group. This will streamline the
process of maintaining the base map and enhance a sense of participation and ownership
on the part of its collaborators.
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Components of the World Conservation Base Map
At the heart of the World Conservation Base Map is a geographic information system
(GIS) comprising a seamless database of basic geographic features for the entire world.
Additional data layers, in both “vector” (points, lines, polygons) and “raster” (imagery,
elevation, etc.) formats, would enhance the resource. Some or all of these would be
maintained by partner organizations, but would be integrated into the Base Map. All
these data layers would be made available through web-based applications that would
allow viewing, download, and updating. Supporting these data and applications would be
an organizational infrastructure and technical services such as a gazetteer.
1. GIS Data
Basic geographic features (See page xx for additional detail)

“Man-made” geographic features such as roads and railroads, populated places,
and international and provincial boundaries, compiled at a scale of 1:1,000,000

Water features including shorelines, rivers, and watersheds

Elevation data at a resolution of 90 meters

Land Cover
Additional Layers

Protected areas map “layer” and database

Seamless satellite imagery at a resolution of 30 meters/pixel for at least one time
period. The imagery would provide a baseline for evaluating future global change.

Population density

Species ranges

Oceanographic data including bathymetry
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2. Applications

A “data” web application that would make base map information in the form of
GIS data available free of charge to scientific and educational users

A “public” web application that would allow users to browse images of the map
online through a National Geographic Society website. Similar applications could
reside at other partner websites.
3. Associated Services and Infrastructure

A panel of advisors made up of partner organizations and other participants that
would periodically review map updates, new data layers, technological
improvements, policy issues, and strategy

A gazetteer of place-names that would include extensive lists from the National
Geographic Society, the United States Geological Survey, the National Imagery
and Mapping Agency, and the databases of participating conservation
organizations

Basic data standards for conservation and biodiversity information

Metadata describing sources and provenance for each data category

A database and clearinghouse of conservation GIS projects, all of them
georeferenced so that information on the projects can be accessed from the web
applications
In addition, the world map would be:

Updated on at least an annual basis, making it a living document and model of
the earth;

Compliant with industry standards, including the Open GIS Consortium’s
interoperability standards and the Federal Geographic Data Committee’s metadata
standards
A note on scale
In compiling a world base map, a significant dilemma has to be faced: Conservation
planners want the greatest possible level of scale and detail for their individual mapping
projects, yet compiling a comprehensive world GIS base map at large scales is an
immense—indeed essentially impossible—undertaking. The consensus among major
conservation organizations is that a data resource at 1:1,000,000 scale, while not of
sufficient detail for many projects, will be of great value for ecoregional planning and
National Geographic World Conservation Base Map Proposal
many other purposes. It will be particularly valuable as a consensus builder, as a means
of access to projects of all sorts, and as a starting point toward shared data sets at larger
scales. Future phases of the Conservation Base Map project may include compiling
larger scale base maps for key regions of the world where biodiversity and conservation
priorities are high.
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Building and Maintaining the World Conservation Base Map
National Geographic proposes an innovative, collaborative approach to building and
maintaining the World Conservation Base Map. Only a few years ago, an approach of
this sort would likely have been impossible. In recent years, however, integration of GIS
software and Internet infrastructure has vastly facilitated data sharing and distributed
mapping. Politically, conservation organizations are increasingly aware of the need to
share data in pursuit of their common goals of preserving biodiversity and seeking
sustainability. Thus the timing of this project is fortuitous.
The World Conservation Base Map would be created and maintained in four overlapping
phases:

Phase 1: Creation of core data layers

Phase 2: Integration of additional data layers

Phase 3: Development of web applications

Phase 4: Maintenance of data layers, including revisions and updates
Later phases, which fall outside the scope of this proposal, will include enhancement of
the resource with finer-scale mapping of critical regions.
Phase 1: Creation of core data layers
National Geographic and ESRI would take the lead in compiling the basic geographic
data: shorelines, drainage, boundaries, populated places, and transportation.
The primary task in this phase will be repairing and updating existing world map
databases. The principal source for basic geography (places, boundaries, water features,
transportation) will be VMap Level 0. This database represents a huge “head start” in
producing a seamless world base map, but requires major repairs and enhancements in
several categories, including attributes (especially applying names to map features), error
corrections, and internal inconsistencies.
This task will fall primarily to ESRI, which produced the original VMap product for
NIMA and a more recent update, and to National Geographic, with its extensive
experience in map compilation and editing.
During phase 1, partner organizations would continue to build and maintain additional
data in key categories such as protected areas, elevation, land cover, species ranges, and
so on. National Geographic and the project’s advisory group would lay the groundwork
for integration of this data in phase 2 of the project.
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Phase 2: Integration of additional data layers
National Geographic and ESRI would work with partner organizations to integrate these
data sets with the basic geography and within a technical infrastructure. Much of this data
would likely be distributed among a number of sites, but accessed via the web as a single,
integrated GIS resource. Issues such as spatial alignment of features and interoperability
will vary with each data category. As primary designers of the database, National
Geographic and ESRI would define procedures and specifications to guide data
development by partner organizations.
Phase 3: Development of web applications
National Geographic and ESRI would take the lead in designing web applications for
viewing and accessing Conservation Base Map data. Two web resources would be
produced: one for professionals, and one for the educational community and the general
public. These resources would utilize the same data and, to a large extent, the same
technical infrastructure. These applications would include special functionalities, such as
(1) the ability to define a geographic region and call up metadata about conservation
activities within that region, and (2) the ability to customize, download, and print maps
by extent and theme.
Phase 4: Maintenance of data layers, including revisions and updates
National Geographic and ESRI would play lead roles in revising and updating basic
geographic data. In addition, National Geographic and its partners would establish a
system whereby partner organizations are provided direct access to components of the
database for input of updates and other enhancements.
National Geographic and its partners would evaluate potential additions to the resource,
recruiting new partners and organizations and adding new thematic layers to the
Conservation Base Map.
A key concept of the Global Conservation Base Map project is to establish a distributed
network of data providers that would be trained and trusted to submit changes via the
Internet directly into the database for consideration. National Geographic, ESRI, and the
project’s advisory board would “certify” the quality and usefulness of the data. This
network of providers would include the conservation organizations directly involved in
the project, and would also leverage key data providers among ESRI’s worldwide
network of GIS users. This model will accomplish two important goals: it will expedite
the process of enhancing and maintaining the data; and it will give participants a greater
sense of collaboration and shared commitment to the project.
ESRI has followed this model in its support of the Global Spatial Data Infrastructure
(GSDI) program. For more than a decade, a network of national mapping organizations
around the world has discussed the building of a global map and an associated
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infrastructure for sharing data. The Global Conservation Base Map would complement
and support the GSDI effort, but would be more narrowly focused on the conservation
community and would be less encumbered with issues inevitably arising from building a
broad, international consensus among many national mapping agencies.
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First Year
Second Year
Third Year
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Fourth Year & beyond
Phase 1: Creation
of core data layers
Phase 2: Integration
of additional data
layers
Phase 3:
Development of
web applications
Phase 4:
Maintenance,
revision of data
layers
Later phases:
Addition of largerscale mapping for
selected regions;
additional data layers
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Benefits to the Conservation Community
The world conservation base map will allow scientists, conservationists, educators, and
governments to speak a common language, and to record their geographic information on
a common base. In addition, the map can afford planners a common tool for systematic
action.
Reduced cost and effort Conservation mapping specialists would have a ready source
of data, saving considerable effort in acquiring map and imagery content.
Spatially consistent data Building conservation map data on multiple bases
compromises its veracity and utility. For instance, a range map of a terrestrial species
might go for miles into the ocean when plotted atop a different base map. Making this
data spatially consistent increases its overall accuracy and aids analysis.
Shared standards and protocols Inevitably, organizations will make different decisions
about how to define terms, attributes, metadata, and other elements of its spatial content.
These varying standards limit the potential for integrating data from many sources.
Shared geographic standards will mean that one organization’s data will be useful to
many, and that data from many sources will be able to be combined synergistically.
A means of determining research and conservation priorities Maps are extremely
effective tools of communication and analysis. Being able to view data from many
sources in a common environment will highlight strengths and weaknesses, overlaps and
gaps, helping organizations individually and collectively to determine the best ways to
allocate their limited resources.
A catalyst for consensus Integrating data from many organizations will almost
inevitably lead to greater cooperation as groups recognize the overlaps and gaps
mentioned above, and as they collectively map, recognize, and analyze areas of
concentrated biodiversity and human activity.
A catalyst for advanced scientific research The base map will make for better analysis
and visualization of conservation problems, patterns, and trends at a global scale. It will
provide opportunities for integration of disparate and seemingly unrelated phenomena
that, when analyzed together in the context of a global data set, can reveal unexpected
correlations and relationships.
A powerful outreach tool Understandably, scientists and conservationists have used
mapping tools to satisfy their own analysis and management needs. Increasingly,
conservation organizations are realizing that this formerly proprietary data represents a
resource that is valuable not only to their own internal initiatives and sister organizations,
but also to the educational community and the public at large.
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A policy-making tool The base map can serve as an important means for influencing
policy decisions related to conservation issues at national and international levels.
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Who would Use the World Conservation Base Map and How
Conservation planners around the world would be primary users, for ecoregional
mapping and other analysis and planning activities
Biologists and other scientists would use the base map for plotting species ranges,
biodiversity and ecosystems analysis, and many other applications
Taxonomists and collections experts would use the conservation base map as a resource
their ongoing effort to geocode archival specimens. A “biological geocoding service”
linked to the base map and its gazetteer would facilitate the creation of point or polygon
data for collection locations.
Natural resource managers would use the base map for many purposes
Educators would use the base map for many activities at grade levels from fifth through
twelfth, and for undergraduate and postgraduate studies.
The Base Map would serve all users by providing a framework for access to more
detailed (larger scale) data, including an index of conservation mapping projects around
the world. The base map would also provide a means of organizing and standardizing
conservation GIS data.
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How the World Conservation Base Map Would Work
Although valuable by itself as an electronic atlas, the true power of the world base map is
its role as a foundation onto which almost limitless data can be built. Many organizations
would be able to use the map as a base for compiling thematic and specialized map layers
covering the entire globe or any portion of it. This could include not only conservation
data, but also geographic information of almost any sort: environment, land use, cultural
features, public health data, geology, climate, hydrography, and so on.
Conservation organizations would be able to utilize the map as a base atop which
specialized data would be compiled. These data sets could be retained by the originators
for their own internal use. However, these organizations would be encouraged to share
their data by making it viewable or directly accessible via the web applications.
The public web application would be similar in many ways to the existing National
Geographic MapMachine (www.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine), whereby visitors
can pan and zoom on the world, choose among data categories, view map images, print
them, and email them. Thus, groups could make their information accessible to the
general public for viewing, while protecting the actual GIS data from which the map
images are generated.
Organizations using the base map would also be able to make their actual data available
on the data web application. This could happen through a model similar to ESRI’s
Geography Network (www.geographynetwork.com), where GIS data, imagery, and other
spatial data is summarized and accessed via a network of linked data sources.
Users of the world base map who have compiled new data resources and who wish to
share their data would request to have their data made accessible for viewing and/or
acquisition. With the assistance of a steering committee, National Geographic and its
partners would review these requests and determine whether they should be included or
listed on one or more web resources associated with the world base map.
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Support of existing and planned conservation initiatives
Mounting pressures on ecosystems and biodiversity, and the increasing scope and
sophistication of the conservation movement, have fostered ever-greater collaboration
among conservation organizations. At the same time, technology has enabled these
organizations to integrate their information resources in new ways. The Conservation
Base Map proposal thus comes at a critical time. The Base Map would strengthen
conservation data resources in an area that is particularly vital to management and
decision-making: geography. Among the initiatives that the Base Map would
complement and support are:
The World Protected Areas Database The collaborators on the development of this
database have resolved to make it publicly accessible. The Global Conservation Base
Map would aid in the dissemination of this data by integrating its spatial components into
the Base Map resource, and linking to other components of the database.
The Species Survival Commission This commission of the IUCN determines the
conservation status of hundreds of thousands of individual species. The Conservation
Base Map would provide cartographic support to species range mapping by many
organizations in support of this and related efforts.
The Biodiversity Knowledge Commons is a broad-based effort to develop an open,
decentralized system for sharing biodiversity knowledge, information, and data. The
primary areas of focus for the initiative are species, protected areas, and geography. The
Conservation Base Map would complement and strengthen the latter category.
Future maintenance and growth of the Global Conservation Base Map
This proposal outlines a three-year start-up effort, during which National Geographic and
its partners would work to establish the Base Map as a dynamic resource that would
continue to be updated and enhanced into the indefinite future. Over the course of the
three-year project, National Geographic would seek to make the base map as selfsustaining as possible, minimizing the funding needed for ongoing maintenance. This
would be accomplished by:
 Investigating and launching revenue-generating activities, including sale of data
for commercial uses, and on-demand printing of maps generated from the Base
Map; and
 Striving to make the system as broadly distributed and decentralized as possible,
with most updates and enhancements being made by participating organizations.
National Geographic’s “hands-on” efforts would decline (but not disappear) over time.
Meanwhile, NGS and ESRI would share custodial responsibilities for key layers and
infrastructure, and the advisory group would continue to function.
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Completion of a first-generation Base Map will undoubtedly create many opportunities
for additional initiatives and work phases, including compilation of larger-scale data sets
for key areas of the globe, print and web publishing initiatives for the conservation
community, schools, and the general public, and addition of new data categories and
thematic layers, both within and outside the realms of conservation and biodiversity. The
Society and the advisory board would determine strategies for future growth of the
resource, and seek funding opportunities to make these initiatives possible.
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Key Partners
The National Geographic Society
The world’s largest non-profit scientific and educational organization, and Society carries
its mission, to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge, to a global audience via its
magazines, television enterprises, Web site, books, and school outreach programs. In
recent years the Society has focused its mission activities on increasing global
understanding and promoting conservation of our planet through exploration, research,
and education.
Conservation International
CI’s mission is to conserve the Earth’s living natural heritage, our global biodiversity,
and to demonstrate that human societies are able to live harmoniously with nature.
Environmental Systems Research Institute
ESRI is the leading provider of GIS software and services. It compiled the Digital Chart
of the World for the defense mapping community, and is a partner of National
Geographic Society.
The Nature Conservancy
The world’s largest non-profit conservation organization. Its mission is to preserve the
plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on earth by
protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. The Conservancy is one of the
largest developers and users of conservation information.
NatureServe
NatureServe is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing knowledge to protect our
natural world. Working in partnership with The Nature Conservancy and a network of
scientific experts, NatureServe helps protect our environment by improving public
understanding of biodiversity and by developing essential information about rare and
endangered plants and animals and threatened ecosystems.
Society for Conservation GIS
A non-profit organization dedicated to providing community, knowledge, and support to
individuals using geospatial technologies and science to conserve earth’s natural and
cultural heritage.
United Nations Environment Programme
and its World Conservation Monitoring Center, which is currently updating the world
protected areas database in collaboration with many of the partner organizations listed
here.
World Resources Institute
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WRI is an environmental think tank that goes beyond research to find practical ways to
protect the earth and improve people's lives.
World Wildlife Fund
WWF is dedicated to protecting the world's wildlife and wildlands. The largest privately
supported international conservation organization in the world, WWF has more than one
million members in the U.S. alone. Since its inception in 1961, WWF has invested in
over 13,100 projects in 157 countries. WWF directs its conservation efforts toward three
global goals: protecting endangered spaces, saving endangered species and addressing
global threats.
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Conservation Base Map Data Layers and Sources
Basic geographic features
Including administrative boundaries, populated places, roads and other transportation
Primary Source: Vmap Level Zero (formerly Digital Chart of the World). Produced for
the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, originally compiled from aviation navigation
maps. While relatively accurate in some respects, VMap Level Zero has poor data
attributes, and coverage in some categories, particularly transportation, is incomplete and
out-of-date.
Compiling the basic geographic features—particularly roads, which is perhaps the single
most valuable feature for conservation planners—is the project’s greatest challenge.
Multiple data sources will be utilized, including national mapping organizations and
private data providers.
Water features
Including shorelines, rivers and streams, watersheds, wetlands, man-made water features
(dams, canals, etc.)
Primary sources: World Vector Shoreline, Hydro 1-K from Eros Data Center
World Vector Shoreline was originally produced by the Defense Mapping Agency (now
NIMA) as a standard product designed for use in many applications. It is at a nominal
scale of 1:250,000, containing the shorelines, international boundaries, and country
names of the world, plus bathymetric data.
Significant enhancement and updating will be necessary to Hydro 1-K, particularly in
naming and aligning drainage basins and their boundaries.
Elevation data
Primary source: ETOPO-30 and, once it is made publicly accessible (currently projected
for the end of 2003), the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission data
Land Cover
Primary source: Global Land Cover 2000, compiled by SPOT, European Space Agency,
and other partners. 1 km resolution; available next year. Potential additional sources
include MODIS, Boston University, University of Maryland
Protected areas
Primary source: World Protected Areas Database, managed by the World Conservation
Monitoring Center. WCMC has compiled a list of more than 50,000 protected areas, and
is currently enhancing the list’s location data. A draft of the data set will be available by
December 2002, with the final data available by September 2003.
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ADDITIONAL DATA LAYERS
Some or all of these would be maintained by other organizations, but would be integrated
into the Conservation Base Map
Seamless satellite imagery
Primary source: Earth Satellite Corporation. Earthsat is compiling three global, seamless,
30-meter resolution imagery data sets under contract to NASA. Using Landsat imagery,
these data sets will show the earth’s surface at three time periods: 1976, 1990, and 2000.
The data will be valuable as a baseline against which future changes to earth’s land
surface can be compared.
Population density
Primary source: Gridded Population of the World, Version 2, developed by Columbia
University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network. Potential
additional source: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Species ranges
Sources: the Species Information System maintained by the IUCN ‘s Species Survival
Commission and its collaborators, including the Institute of Geography in Rome for
mammals and other groups; Conservation International; Birdlife International for birds
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National Geographic World Conservation Base Map Proposal
Preliminary Budget
First year
Second year
Third year
$100,000
$100,000
$100,000
50,000
50,000
50,000
1,500,000
1,500,000
500,000
Website design
25,000
75,000
100,000
Data and website hosting, serving
50,000
125,000
125,000
Data maintenance
50,000
100,000
250,000
0
75.000
125,000
$1,775,000
$2,025,000
$1,250,000
Project management
Advisory board
Data compilation
Website maintenance
Total
TOTAL three years
$5,050,000