 Reforestation: the re-establishment of a forested land use on areas that were previously converted from a forested to non-forested land use  e-RTS  Internet-accessible data entry and query application  Data is “housed” in a relational database  Designed to serve as a central repository for reforestation data  Managed and served by the LMV Joint Venture Office as a service to Joint Venture partners The LMVJV Reforestation Tracking System

 Reforestation is a common LMVJV partner conservation action that is inherently spatial and temporal  Document the collective contributions of multiple programs / organizations to meet landscape goals and objectives  To assess partnership progress and inform adaptive approach to conservation, need to know Where was it done? How much was done? How was it done? Where are the high priority places?  e-RTS: Example of a value-added service required to achieve NABCI goal: “regionally based, biologically driven, landscape-oriented” conservation Spring 2004 MBM Notebook: Revised LMVJV Business Model, pg 4 Why an LMVJV Reforestation Tracking System?

Partner Landholdings Assess and inform the collective contributions to LMVJV landscape goals both spatially and temporally

Forest Core Forest Why an LMVJV Reforestation Tracking System? Assess and inform the protection and management of “core” habitat for area-sensitive wildlife

Why an LMVJV Reforestation Tracking System? Higher Lower Reforestation Priorities Forest Property Boundaries Assess and inform the restoration of the most environmentally sensitive portions of the landscape

e-RTS takes advantage of two information technologies to help track a common conservation practice comprehensively and efficiently  The relational database design  The Internet  A relational database is good for  Efficient storage of data  Efficient access to “answers” that can be gleaned from specific questions (e. g., queries)  Efficient data maintenance  Internet applications for data entry and access are good for  Efficient entry of data  Maintenance of data quality during data entry  Maintenance of data standards  User-friendly data access Why this kind of Reforestation Tracking System?

Beneficial Results  Comprehensive data set: Foresters chose the set of tracked parameters  Common set of parameters: Foresters chose data standards  Improve landscape planning, assessment, and evaluative research  Centralized: Reduce individual organization’s costs for hardware, software and personnel to design, build, and maintain system  Efficient / Convenient: Reduce data entry time and speed access to data summaries  Reduce program costs  Increase use of data for land management decisions Why this kind of Reforestation Tracking System?

 Data entry system  Guides user through data entry process  Prevents common data entry errors  Increases data entry speed  Insures standardization of data  Improves data quality  Facilitates data updates  Improves data accessibility Data entry via e-RTS web interface

What has it taken to get us where we are now? Skilled Personnel Provided By Task Forestry expertsPartners Identified tracking parameters and data standards Built short-term Access solution Demonstrated this solution at Spring 2000 MBM Recognized opportunity to better use technology IT expertsPartners Initialized relational database design Database designer & developer Office Built the data tables, based on input from foresters, and “wired” the relationships between the tables Web application programmer Office Programmed functionality and data management into e-RTS web interface Forestry expertsPartners Beta-tested web application and approved e-RTS Management Board Representatives Partners Designate individuals responsible for data entry and data quality by each partner