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Story | 09 Apr, 2019

MED CONSERVATION MAPS - a digital platform for sharing data on biodiversity conservation in the Mediterranean

GIS maps, storytelling and authoritative documents can now be combined to offer an enhanced experience of conservation and biodiversity data.

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Photo: IUCN Med

Increasing the visibility of conservation data, making them shareable and turning them into tangible conservation actions - these are the key challenges tackled by this new digital platform, launched this week by the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Conservation, called MED CONSERVATION MAPS:
http://www.medconservationmaps.org/

Med Conservation Maps aims to be a collaborative platform that uses interactive story maps to store the knowledge generated by peer conservation science networks. The most innovative aspect of this platform is that it makes possible both to download these geo-referenced maps and display them on other geoportals.

Engaging conservation stories about threatened butterfly species, the current status of sharks or impressive underwater seascapes in the Mediterranean are supported with a wide variety of media content, from videos to charts and infographics. In fact, the complexity of biodiversity and conservation information often makes scientific dissemination an ambitious task, due to the variety of factors involved.

Indeed, Med Conservation Maps intends to reflect that complexity while highlighting the esthetic value of Mediterranean nature with powerful resources, such as storytelling, so as to make data appealing for wider audiences. Just like every fable carries a specific key message, each of these stories end with a description of practical conservation actions, following IUCN’s governance and conservation policy goals.

Aiming to promote Med Conservation Maps as a dynamic collaborative space for the Mediterranean community of conservation experts and environmentalists, IUCN-Med is currently accepting relevant examples from other regional stakeholders and organizations who wish to share or exchange information.

The platform has been funded thanks to the MAVA Foundation support within the programmatic framework with IUCN-Med.

For further enquiries or if you wish to submit your own story, please contact lourdes.lazaro@iucn.org