GIS-based prioritization of private land parcels for biodiversity conservation: A case study from the Current and Eleven Point Conservation Opportunity Areas, Missouri

Conservation Opportunity Areas (COAs) have been identified across Missouri as important regions in which to maintain and restore the rich and diverse natural heritage of the state. The participation of private landowners within the COAs is critical to the success of biodiversity conservation, and State officials needed a way to prioritize efforts to engage landowners within the COAs. A flexible and interactive tool was developed to identify high priority land parcels using a GIS model (based on ArcGIS modelbuilder) that incorporated multiple factors including size of parcel, forest coverage, riparian corridor area, proximity to public lands and roads, and presence of endangered species. This model provides a visual and automated means to integrate various data and perform a series of spatial analyses and was used to help identify high priority land parcels in the Current and Eleven Point Hills COAs. The distribution and priority of private land parcels were visualized to help direct marketing and conservation actions toward high ranking land parcels. This approach can be used in other Missouri COAs and other cases where biodiversity conservation prioritization schemes would help decision makers and conservation program managers.