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    Advanced uses

    30x30 initiative

    Remote monitoring and aerial imagery can help land trusts increase the pace of conservation to achieve the goal of 30% of land conserved by 2030.

    • Land trusts using remote monitoring can save time and money, leaving more time and resources for acquisition. See the Return on Investment section for more.

    • Satellite imagery can help land trusts quickly identify the best parcels for conservation, showing locations, the current conditions of water and wetlands, agriculture and land-use values and ecosystem and forest health values.

    Example

    Using remote imagery for parcel selection

    Land trusts can use remote imagery to support land parcel selection by looking at vegetation health at both parcel and landscape levels. For example, instead of a static and potentially outdated picture of water resources, land trusts can use multispectral images that highlight surface water to see changes to water resources throughout the annual seasons and look for high water years. An image like the one shown below can help land trust acquisition teams determine which adjacent parcels or areas of a parcel are the highest priority for conservation tailored to the organization’s highest priorities or strategic conservation plan.

    For example, a land trust might have acquiring entire creek beds as their highest priority and use a multispectral image to look at the entire property. The creek in the upper right of the ranch below meanders into the and out of the property; however, other seasonal streams and wet areas appear on this image, including one in the middle of the property and on the left side of the image. The organization might use that information to prioritize another stream bed.