Strategic conservation seeks to get the right conservation practices to the right place in the right amount at the right time, as efficiently as possible, to achieve a desired set of conditions. Over the past century, the complexity of conservation in the Great Lakes has increased significantly. We are now building a management and delivery system designed to handle the ever growing supply of conservation data, knowledge and information in an integrated way to support adaptive management of the Great Lakes.

The Nature Conservancy, U.S. Geological Survey, and Upper Midwest and Great Lakes LCC have collaborated to build a prototype Great Lakes Information Management and Delivery System (IMDS).

The IMDS brings to life strategic conservation by providing a dynamic platform to access and share all the necessary components of adaptive management.

Researchers have developed a highly efficient, first stop shop to find and contribute data, knowledge, online mapping services, decision tools, shared goals and project demonstrating solutions associated with featured Great Lakes issues.

By using and contributing to the IMDS, the conservation community will break down silos and push strategic conservation of the Great Lakes beyond development and into action.

Knowledge Network—sharing knowledge to increase understanding
Learn about the condition of Great Lakes ecosystems and what ecological values are at stake, build partnerships, or contribute content and advance our understanding of Great Lakes terrestrial, inland aquatic, and Great Lake habitats.

Data Catalog—sharing data to advance knowledge
The Data Catalog is a virtual repository of Great Lakes data layers and databases. Find or share data for any media (land, air, water), ecosystem, or ecological pattern or process in the Great Lakes region.

Dynamic Maps—sharing interactive maps to provide a sense of place
The Dynamic Maps module catalogs interactive mapping applications. Use these online mapping tools to assess the scope of conservation issues, or share dynamic mapping applications and support our knowledge Great Lakes ecosystems.

Decision Tools—sharing models and decision tools to address complex problems
The Decision Tools module indexes tools ranging from vegetation calculators, to watershed assessment procedures, to climate change modeling tools, to help you find the tools most relevant to your natural resource management decisions.

Assess & Adapt—sharing goals to foster solutions
The Assess & Adapt module delivers conservation performance indicators for important landscape-scale conservation issues in the Great Lakes region.

Project Tracking—sharing ideas to facilitate and coordinate conservation actions
Project Tracking is a collection of project information searchable by geography or terms. Export project information for your own analysis. Identify opportunities to work collaboratively where project goals and objectives align.