Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy
SECAS brings together public and private organizations around a bold vision for the future of our region. We're connecting the lands and waters of the Southeast and Caribbean to support healthy ecosystems, thriving fish and wildlife populations, and vibrant communities. With a data-driven spatial plan and an ambitious regional goal, SECAS helps accelerate conservation action in the places where it will make the biggest impact.
From the blog
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Upcoming webinars in the SECAS Third Thursday Web Forum series. Visit the SECAS event calendar for more details and connection information. Summer 2023 web forum schedule now available
The flyer for the summer Third Thursday Web Forum series is now available! As the name implies, these webinars are held on the third Thursday of each month at 10 am Eastern time. We hope you’ll join us. »Click here for an interactive pdf of the flyer, with functioning links.
These webinars and other SECAS events are available on the SECAS event calendar.
- The June web forum on 6/15 @ 10 am ET will feature the free, crowdsourced spatial database OpenStreetMap (OSM). OSM representatives will give an overview of the program, and SECAS staff will cover the ways the Blueprint is using OSM data and provide a step-by-step training on how to edit OSM data and digitize new information so you can improve the Blueprint in the places you know and love.
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A screenshot of Ham’s Bluff trail on St. Croix in the OpenStreetMap (OSM) interface. SECAS staff, working with local experts from St. Croix, updated some of the OSM trail data by updating trail name and attributes, and even digitized some trails that were not yet in the OSM database. Now these trails are included in our draft Caribbean greenways and trails indicator. Improve the Blueprint by mapping the places you know and love with OpenStreetMap
As you have probably heard SECAS staff say many times, one of the guiding principles of the Southeast Conservation Blueprint is “do not duplicate the good work of others.” Part of acting on this principle is building the Blueprint from existing data. You may be aware of some of the species and habitat data that we bring in from places like the U.S. Geological Survey or the Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership. Today I’d like to highlight another data source, OpenStreetMap (OSM).
OSM is a community-driven source of spatial information. People all over the world contribute to this project to verify that these data are updated and accurate. This is what is called an “open data” project, which means you are free to use the data if you credit OSM. It also means that you can contribute to the data, using your own local knowledge to improve the spatial depiction of your community.
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End of the day in the SC Lowcountry Sentinel Landscape at Hunting Island. Photo by Jean Gray Mohs. The South Carolina Lowcountry Sentinel Landscape – A local partnership supporting a regional conservation vision
The Lowcountry of South Carolina, just north of the Savanah River, is a landscape that’s still a little wild. Here, the lands and waters support wide expanses of longleaf pine, salt marsh, maritime forest, and working lands. This is also a place where conservation partners from the Open Land Trust, The Nature Conservancy, the Center for Heirs Property Preservation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and many others will work with local military installations (Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, and Naval Support Facility Beaufort) to achieve common goals within the newly established Lowcountry Sentinel Landscape.
Earlier this year, the South Carolina Lowcountry Sentinel Landscape became the 11th Sentinel Landscape designated nationwide! It’s also the 3rd Sentinel Landscape supported and informed by the Southeast Conservation Blueprint, where Blueprint user support staff helped partners develop maps and support the application for designation.
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Visit the SECAS blog for a full archive of posts.