Pierre Jorcin
GIS and Data Administrator
Naturalia-Environnement
France

Biography
Geographer specialised in GIS and remote sensing, Pierre Jorcin is expert in mapping methodologies, geostatistics, and multi criteria analyses. He has been involved in setting up geospatial components for natural resource management, environmental studies, and development programs policies. He has worked on urban and rural development, watershed management, hydrogeological research, and Location Based Services in South Asia and South East Asia for 12 years. He was involved in producing modeling applications and Atlas for UNESCO, Wildlife Conservation Society, and Bing Maps. He is currently working on building GIS services for ecological impact assessments in South of France.

Abstract
Linking European Classifications of Wildlife Habitats and Protected Species to Site Observations for Ranking High Conservation Value Areas, a Universal Geospatial Model for Ecological Assessment

Co-Author: Benjamin ALLEGRINI, Assistant Director, Naturalia-Environnement In ecological impact assessments, the wildlife habitats sensibility is determined by experts, and is often difficult to be demonstrated on objective basis. A high conservation value area is usually defined by the presence of protected species, using ranks according to species inner and global conservation value. However, standardized methods are lacking for producing spatial analyses compiling various ecological sensibilities on site. We developed an integrative framework able to generate indices of conservation value related to individual patches of typical habitats. By linking the European protection classifications to local parameters, the method fills the gap in assessing sites conservation value at a regional level. Wildlife observations are spatially linked to comprehensive landscape units of similar patterns, according to The European Nature Information System (EUNIS) and the Corine Biotope coding systems. Thus, high conservation perimeters can be traced more precisely from an accurate delineation of classified habitats. With field data, we apply a geospatial model to generate a unique index for each habitat unit. The method merges qualitative and quantitative observations made over small landscape units and helps evaluating ecological sensitivity. We make use of several European protected species categories and ranking to calculate indices for every taxon listed. This index is then weighted based on parameters observed locally, such as species population density and habitat quality, or level of environmental degradation. Species occurrences and associated taxon values are aggregated together within a habitat. A synthesis is produced by calculating indices for distinct habitat patches for each biological group. This quantitative evaluation method provides an efficient tool to draw information from field data and European environmental indicators, to generate a scaled and comprehensive analysis. Flora, fauna, and habitat conservation values can be assessed and compared on a similar basis for various places, highlighting locations where a combination of species of interest is present in a suitable habitat. Using European sensitive species and habitats classifications, the geospatial model can be applied to add value to any ecological assessment by putting in place standardized calculations where the output can be easily verified and demonstrated.