May 30 – June 1, 2015 in the visit center of the national natural park “Slobozhansky” was held III scientific and methodical seminar “GIS and Protected Areas – 2015”

During the seminar, were heard reports about results of the national parks work in ESRI Conservation Program, providing GIS activities in the NRF, the experience in developing and using thematic databases, and the cooperation of the natural reserve fund and universities in the use of GIS for the needs of the national park, Study of landscapes, animal habitats and a number of other topical issues.
At the master classes, participants learned how to use QGIS and JOSM, to edit OpenStreetMap maps, to create and gain experience with the SpatialLite geodatabase, to work with mobile GIS: NextGIS Mobile and Collector for ArcGIS. They also had an opportunity to get acquainted with the basics of spatial analysis, rules for mapping maps and working with international online databases on biodiversity (GBIF, Discoverlife, etc.).
A novelty in the program of the seminar was the demonstration of the capabilities of an unmanned aerial vehicle. Each participant was able to test himself in the role of the operator (pilot) quadcopter and conduct aerial photography. Materials of aerial photography from the key sections of the national parks of the Kharkiv region were presented. In the round table mode, a discussion was held of potential directions for using drones for the needs of the nature reserve business.
During the work of the round table “GIS as a means of communication of scientists, nature conservation community and managers” discussed the main vectors of the activity on the creation of a network GIS-system allowing to take into account the results of scientific research when making managerial decisions in the sphere of the use of natural resources, creation and management of protected areas.

In total, 29 specialists from 12 organizations from 4 regions of Ukraine took part in the seminar. For example, specialists from the following organizations took part in the seminar: National Nature Park «Slobozhansky» (Kharkiv region), National Nature Park Dvurechansky (Kharkiv region), National Nature Park «Buzkiy Gard» (Mykolaiv region), branches of the National Ecological Center of Ukraine (Kiev, Kharkov, Nikolaev), V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Center for Regional Studies (Odessa), Azov-Chernomorskaya ornithological station (Zaporozhye region), Ukrainian Research Institute of Forestry and Agroforestry. G.N.Vysotskogo (Kharkov) V.V. Dokuchaev KNAU (Kharkov), Petro Mohyla Black Sea State University (Nikolaev), Odessa National Academy of Food Technologies (Odessa), Institute of Experimental and Clinical Veterinary Medicine (Kharkov), regional representation of the GIS-Lab (Kharkov).

Presentations of the seminar: Presentations 2015