This mapping project assessed the degree to which
both existing and proposed terrestrial protected area networks protect/would
protect landscape-level biodiversity, which are represented as vegetation
types delineated from remotely-sensed imagery. A comprehensive,
standardized, and thematically-appropriate map of Central American vegetation
and landcover types was developed by classifying AVHRR imagery (Advanced
Very High Resolution Radiometer imagery—1 square kilometer resolution)
using advanced digital image processing routines and expertise provided
by a Central America Vegetation Working Group. The map identifies
17 remaining natural vegetation types. The classification accuracy
of the map is estimated to exceed 80 percent. The data accurately reflect
conservation status up to 1995.
Using a gap analysis approach, a map of existing
and proposed protected areas was overlaid on the vegetation map to analyze
the protection status of vegetation types. Eleven of the 17 vegetation
types were found to be under-represented (<10% of their total area
contained in parks) and of these, eight vegetation types were found
to have less than 5% protection. A similar analysis of the protection
status of ecoregions revealed that eleven of the 16 ecoregions are inadequately
protected. Eight ecoregions have been extensively converted (<40%
original forest remaining) from pre-colonization states.
This work was supported by PROARCA/CAPAS (Proyecto
Ambiental Regional de Centroamerica/Central America Protected Areas
Systems), a conservation partnership of the Central
American Commission on Environment and Development (CCAD), the U.S.
Agency for International Development (USAID), the International
Resources Group, Ltd. (IRG), The
Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Winrock
International. This work was funded primarily by the United
States Agency for International Development (USAID). Components
of this work were additionally supported by The Nature Conservancy (TNC)
and NASA.
Data Download and Metadata
Readme file and metadata describing the project and the GIS
data sets.
Download the data in Raster GRID and and Shape File format (3.1MB zip file). Note: You must use the “extract” command in WinZip rather than dragging files into a directory on your computer or sub-directories will not be created and data will not be useable.
For more information, please contact SEDAC
User Services or The Nature Conservancy at:
Conservation Science and Stewardship Department
Latin American and The Caribbean Division
The Nature Conservancy
1815 North Lynn Street
Arlington, Virginia 22209 USA
Fax: 1-703-841-2722
e-mai: xli (at) tnc.org
