Wildlife Survey Maps Help Manage Critical Habitat in the Zambezi Delta

Green Space GIS worked closely with Dr. Rich Beilfuss and researchers in Mozambique to produce a series of maps showing the distribution and density of species in the Zambezi river delta, in central Mozambique.  The aerial wildlife surveys were conducted in May 2009 and November 2008 by Dr. Belifuss under a contract to support WWF-Mozambique.  These surveys yielded a wealth of data about both game species and endangered and threatened species that live in the delta.

Green Space GIS helped Dr. Beilfuss integrate the wildlife survey data with GIS datasets to produce the maps that will be used by researchers, wildlife and habitat managers, and environmental educators to help make long term decisions about species protection and use.

The audience for these maps was pretty broad – including everyone from wildlife biologists to local villagers.  We decided that it would be really useful if the maps contained more than just the wildlife locations; so we made a series of maps that can serve multiple roles for outreach, education, research and management planning.
- Dorn Moore, Cartographer and Director of Green Space GIS, LLC

Each of the maps contains photos of the species to help laymen get a sense of which animals are being mapped. Further, as these maps may be used in the field with local people, the photographs make it easier to work across language and literacy barriers. The use of a false color satellite image as the background also helps users to identify broad patterns in habitat preference by the species.