Clark Labs Awarded Contract by Conservation International to Develop Modeling and Simulation Tools for Land Use/Cover in the Andean Region
7/17/03

Clark Labs has recently been awarded a contract with the Andes Monitoring and Modeling of Conservation International to develop new, spatially-explicit tools within the IDRISI Kilimanjaro software to aid in the analyses and simulation of Andean land-cover change scenarios and their effect on biodiversity. Dominant land uses in the Andes include deforestation, agro-business, mining, oil exploration, illicit crops, armed conflict, and urbanization.

Working with colleagues from the Ecology and Applied Math departments at Princeton University, models will be developed that allow for interpretation and prediction of current trajectories of economic, environmental and demographic change. Models will address the more complex task of designing and implementing multi-scale conservation and development actions that encourage land use-change activities that maintain functioning, healthy, and sustainable landscapes.

The use and development of simulation tools will further enable the exploration and assessment of multiple spatial designs for conservation corridors. Simulations will also be employed in discussions with stakeholders in an effort to integrate the design of productive and healthy landscapes with broader and long-term conservation goals.

Clark Labs is the developer of the IDRISI Kilimanjaro GIS and Image Processing software, which will be used as the basis for the development of modeling and simulation tools for Conservation International.

For further information, please contact the Clark Labs, Worcester, MA. Tel: 508-793-7526.