Mapping and Prioritizing Parcels for Resilience Project

Mass Audubon, in partnership with The Nature Conservancy and LandVest, developed Mapping and Prioritizing Parcels for Resilience (MAPPR) to allow Massachusetts conservationists to rapidly identify specific parcels that, if protected, could contribute the most to achieving land protection goals.

While land trusts, towns, and agencies have long relied on a wide range of maps and data sets to identify priority areas for land protection to meet their goals, MAPPR takes advantage of newly available digital parcel data to identify specific land protection opportunities. MAPPR also helps land trusts, towns, and agencies to easily define and refine their priorities, discover new opportunities, and extract the data necessary to take the next steps in land protection.

2023 Update

The MAPPR tool is currently down for maintenance. We expect to have it back up-and-running in early 2024. 

Support for MAPPR

Initial development of MAPPR has been supported by the Open Space Institute (OSI) and the Lookout Foundation. The Lookout Foundation also supported the updates in MAPPR 2.0. OSI’s Resilient Landscapes Initiative, which is made possible with funding from Jane’s Trust and a generous anonymous donor, seeks to build the capacity of land trusts working in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts to respond to climate change by supporting innovative proposals for integrating resiliency and climate data into conservation planning. 

The Lookout Foundation supports sustainable, economically viable agriculture and forestry endeavors on vital New England farm and conservation lands targeting long-term ecological health, environmental protection and natural resource management.

MAPPR Resource Layers

MAPPR would not be possible without important data sources compiled by the Massachusetts Office of Geographic Information (MassGIS). The statewide Level 3 Assessors’ Parcels were crucial for the project and are embedded in this tool. 

The Protected and Recreational OpenSpace layer, maintained by GIS staff in the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, was also integrated into the analysis. 

In addition, this tool uses the BioMap2 layers that are available as web map services directly from MassGIS; Resilient Sites for Conservation mapped by the Nature Conservancy; and Critical Linkages from the University of Massachusetts, in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and The Nature Conservancy.

Questions

For more information email us.

Project Partners