Collaboration tools enable the sharing of conservation management information, best practices, and the connection of scientific research with field-based conservation practice

Access to timely, relevant information often determines whether a conservation project succeeds or fails. Whether for private land owners, local community leaders or global non-governmental organizations, comprehensive data, information and knowledge are essential for effective conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. Unfortunately, conservation information and knowledge is difficult to find and often unavailable to the scientists and project managers engaged in planning and implementing conservation strategies.  In order to meet the challenge of effectively conserving the world’s biodiversity, it is essential that information resources be made more readily available to people engaged in conservation. ConserveOnline (http://conserveonline.org/), is an online conservation toolbox created and maintained by the Nature Conservancy in partnership with other conservation organizations.  The site includes a document library, collaboration workspaces, map galleries, and databases of conservation projects. The goal of ConserveOnline is to enhance the effectiveness of global conservation efforts by fostering active collaboration among people working on common problems, and to support the free and opening sharing of conservation information and knowledge. Conceptually, as projects are completed, conservation managers and scientists submit new lessons, reports and best practices for future project managers. In this way, conservation practitioners have the opportunity to save significant time and effort by avoiding the need to relearn the same lessons.  New developments and applications of the tools in ConserveOnline will be discussed.