When the Irish National Forestry Foundation (INFF) set out to demonstrate sustainable forestry in West Cork, it soon realised that it needed a better way to manage its estate. It now uses ArcGIS to monitor the development of field trials and provide clear information to visitors.
Client
In Ireland, the Irish National Forestry Foundation is a charitable organisation that aims to demonstrate and promote the benefits of sustainable forestry to landowners across the country. The organisation manages just over half of the 300 acre estate at Manch, in West Cork, and uses the site to conduct a wide variety of field trials to compare the effectiveness of different tree species, planting techniques and management regimes.
The Challenge
Every month, the centre at Manch welcomes hundreds of visitors, including landowners, farmers and school children, who want to learn more about sustainable forestry. Soon after its inception, the centre realised that it needed a better way to manage information about the estate and monitor field trials. It also wanted to help visitors navigate around the site more easily.
The Solution
Some of the maps produced using ArcView have been blown up to create colourful and clear four-foot high signs at pivotal locations in the estate. In addition, staff use ArcView to quickly and easily compare routes when planning guided walks around the estate. In the future, members of staff intend to use Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) technology to accurately record the locations of otter habitats and badger sets for example. By plotting this information in ArcView, the organisation can monitor and analyse changes in wildlife populations over time.
The Benefits
Lynn Daley, Education Manager for the INFF commented ‘There is a growing awareness of the importance of GIS as a tool for biological research and monitoring as well as for planning and managing woodland. The ESRI Ireland solution not only enables the INFF to implement GIS in its own research and monitoring but also allows the INFF to demonstrate the advantages of GIS to others through courses run at the Sustainable Forestry Education Centre’.
The Technology Used
It selected ESRI’s ArcView and has used this desktop solution to produce a wide range of different maps of the estate, which benefit both employees and visitors. These maps cover the whole of the estate and use colour-codes to indicate the parts of the forest that are being actively managed, the natural growth areas and the different field trial zones.
ArcGIS Desktop - ArcView
The Irish Natural Forestry Foundation selected ESRI’s ArcView and has used this desktop solution to produce a wide range of different maps of the estate, which benefit both employees and visitors.These maps cover the whole of the estate and use colour-codes to indicate the parts of the forest that are being actively managed, the natural growth areas and the different field trial zones.
Some of the maps produced using ArcView have been blown up to create colourful and clear four-foot high signs at pivotal locations in the estate. In addition, staff use ArcView to quickly and easily compare routes when planning guided walks around the estate.