This project will investigate the options for a common authentication module in the CANRI framework

Web-based metadata collection tool for natural resources datasets for inclusion in the NRDD. Database can be designed to provide "views" of standard metadata schema (eg ANZLIC, AGLS).

The Data framework project will provide for the first time an overall structure for natural resources management datasets, endorsed by the key NSW natural resource management (NRM) agencies. This high-level data framework will be published and presented for review at a stakeholders forum. It will be maintained using industry-standard modelling software and used to create: a classification system for data served via CANRI; a taxonomy of natural resources terms for use in the CANRI catalogue; an enhanced CANRI homepage and map data selection tool allowing discovery of information within the branches of the data framework; and an XML schema to which more detailed schemas for individual data themes can be fitted as these become available. The NSW Natural Resources Management Data framework will provide the first step towards a stable data online infrastructure on which can be built a network of applications that support the business of NRM. This project will also provide an up-to-date model and system documentation of the various inter-relating components of the CANRI software architecture.

High-quality documentation explaining how to contribute data to CANRI and use CANRI resources in your own website.

CANRI stakeholders have expressed the need for more sophisticated mapping, data entry and data download features to make CANRI websites more useful for real-world natural resources management processes. These features require the use of vector data (points, lines and polygons) rather than the simple map images now available in CANRI. The Web Services project is the first step in this direction and will provide: 1. Set up of OpenGIS standards-compliant dataservers including dataserver set up facilities; 2. A standard Web Feature Server to serve point data sets from a database to the CANRI framework; 3. Capability to enter at least point features (location and attributes) using maps in CANRI applications: 4. Integration of these new facilities in the existing CANRI framework.

The project will also explore the issues involved in establishing an open web-based environment for cataloguing and accessing natural resources information other than 'spatial datasets", such as books, reports, research documents, brochures, leaflets, photographs, and multi media formats. It will incorporate agreed standards and protocols [eg AGLS, Open GIS, ANZLIC, ISO etc] to allow linkages to other Web-based catalogues and "networks", enabling the user to seamlessly search for and access information. The project will adopt common toolsets where appropriate, eg thesaurus and gazeteer, and will include the development of a georeferencing tool to give users the ability to spatially reference and search for information.

FishFiles is the web interface of ACIS, the primary source of distribution and abundance data for fish species in NSW. FishFiles presents records of known sightings of fish (both marine and freshwater) in NSW as derived from sources such as professional surveys and community reports. FishFiles is aimed at natural resource management committees as its primary audience and is also a useful tool for government agencies, students and the community of NSW. FishFiles allows the user to search and filter the data using a variety of criteria, to produce a summary of records relating to date, species and location, as well as other relevant information such as the threatened or protected status of the species. This proposal is for the extensive population of the database (ACIS), to provide georeferencing for all records and presentation of the data via a spatial (map) interface on the internet.

The Biodiversity Information Project has established a Biodiversity Information Working Group (BIWG) chaired by NPWS and with representatives from NSW Agriculture, the Australian Museum, DLWC, DUAP (RACD), EPA, NSW Fisheries, the Royal Botanic Gardens and State Forests of NSW. Representatives from nine agencies meet regularly to oversee and discuss the development of the project. A Project Manager has been appointed to coordinate the Biodiversity Information Project and to consult various agencies and community groups regarding biodiversity information access issues.

Identify target audience for research as "natural resource information-users". Include those using internet and other media in the study. Conduct research to determine user needs, capabilities and expectations relating to biodiversity information and natural resources information. Document this as baseline information, against which the success of CANRI initiatives can later be evaluated. Analyse findings to identify strategic priorities for CANRI that improve community access to information. Identify "market segments" (people with like needs and capabilities). Provide guidance and make recommendations to refine/develop CANRI initiatives that meet the needs of identified segments. Use the research to guide communication/marketing campaigns.

Datasets from the CRA projects, for which NPWS is the nominated custodian, including input datasets and derived layers will be made available to other CANRI applications by making them accessible to the NRA.

The Datex project will establish a facility to download data from the Canri website. With the allocated funding this include a registrastion form to fill in prior to data download. No authentication or conversion facilities are planned.

The Topo Vector Layers project plans to publish a comprehensive set of topographic layers within the CANRI framework. Topographic information form the base of any Geographic Information System and are useful to everybody, yet only a few such layers have been available to CANRI sofar (without attributes, on large scale). Furthermore, use of vector layers rather than raster maps provide greater control over detail and combination of information (granularity) as well as greater clarity when presenting spatial information. Finally, datasets are coincident with DITM’s Digital Cadastral Data Base (DCDB) up to scale 1:100000 and thus provide reliable positional benchmarks.

The identification of plants is a highly skilled activity that is normally the domain of specialist botanists. The objective of the "EucaLink" project is to present Internet-accessible interactive identification tools for the eucalypts of New South Wales. These tools will be part of the Royal Botanic Gardens' PlantNET website. EucaLink is being developed as a web-accessible, dynamic database that presents the most current knowledge on the eucalypt species that occur within the State. The major advantages that the new interactive identification tools have over the traditional paper-based 'keys' is their simplicity of use. These tools will represent a primary resource that will assist in the identification of these important trees. This proposal seeks financial assistance to enable the rapid completion of a long-term RBG-funded initiative, that will compliment the WattleWeb website.

Three of the Museum’s Fauna Collections (Entomology, Marine Invertebrates and Malacology) have large numbers of species that cannot be mapped as part of FaunaNet.This project will harvest names from the Australian Museums Fauna Collections and include them in the NSW Fauna Master Names List.

The herbarium botanical collectiosn are one of the key resources used by professional botanists to confirm the identification of plants. However, these resources are not readily available to the community, especially for people in rural New South Wales. To reduce the impact of this impediment, this project incorporates an Internet-accessible (electronic) image of herbarium collections into the RBG's NSW Collections database as a resource that can be used by the community to confirm plant identifications. This proposal is a continuation of a pilot project began in 2000.

The lower plants (non-vascular plants) are commonly overlooked in vegetation surveys, environmental impact assessments, and other natural resource evaluations. One of the reason for this is the lack of information available for the community to use. HMast will provide an Internet-accessible current names and synonyms for the liverworts of New South Wales. As part of the PlantNET website, these names will represent a primary and dynamic resource for the community. The master list will provide the basis on which other tools can be built - identification modules, descriptions, images, distribution.

Habitat loss and fragmentation of remaining natural areas are heavily implicated in the decline of biodiversity throughout the world. Addressing this decline requires a regional approach incorporating protection and management of remaining important areas and enhanced connectivity across landscapes. NPWS has refined the systematic consideration of fauna, as a conservation focus, across the landscape through the summary and integration of priority forest species’ modelled distributions as conservation planning surrogates for biodiversity and ecological processes. With the aid of innovative Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis tools, key habitats and linking corridors for priority fauna assemblages have been delineated across north-east New South Wales. The mapped outputs provide the only spatially complete, data-driven, and systematically derived, synthesis of a conservation planning framework for the region. They form an explicit basis for a regional protected area network and provide a landscape context and framework for regional conservation programs. As predicted high conservation value habitats, the mapped key habitats and corridors are focus areas for the protection, enhancement and restoration of native vegetation. The GIS-referenced key habitats and corridors maps have been submitted to regional planning programs in north-east NSW (eg., Regional Vegetation Management and Water Management Committees, Catchment Management Boards, regional and local government environment planning). They are considered an important information tool for the community in general.

Enhance CANRI application builder and apply changes to existing CANRI applications. Enhancements include allowing other websites to link or embed CANRI applications, customised to their needs by specificying the initial map extent and possibly data layers. This would help webmasters to use CANRI applications in local and regional websites across NSW. Other enhancements include printer-friendly maps and more intuitive map zoom and pan functions.

The project will adapt data sets held by NSW Fisheries and the NSW Marine Parks Authority for internet access. Data sets are GIS and relational databases describing aspects of marine and estuarine biodiversity in NSW. The project aims to verify, format and document existing data sets to help inform management and the community about information available on marine biodiversity and its use in conservation management.

NPWS will develop the ability to serve core datasets covering NPWS Estate, declared wilderness and vegetation mapping. This will allow NPWS to make continuously available up-to-date layers of NPWS Estate and wilderness datasets, as well as providing access to vegetation datasets not currently available in the CANRI framework.

A pilot study will be conducted into the development of a data repository for NPWS images and other multimedia files related to biodiversity.

The CANRI RAMS Far West project builds on the multiagency Resource Assessment and Management System (RAMS) Far West long term monitoring programme. This programme has been using satellite imagery to monitor the cropping and clearing activities of the NSW Western Division at a paddock scale since the early 1980s. The CANRI RAMS Far West project will correct GIS topological errors in this extensive database, patch a number of temporal gaps and deliver a generalised set of grids to the public domain through the ICMISS/CANRI structure. Further value adding of this dataset will be undertaken by integrating various natural resource datasets through a modelling process to deliver an array of derived maps, tables and statistics to the public through the ICMISS/CANRI structure.

This project will further develop Internet based tools, systems, and provide more and a greater range of natural resource data to the Internet community by publishing the river data from the Sydney Catchment Authority and ACT Electricity and Water on the River Information Internet System site. This site will be "principal" location for obtaining a State view of river flow data and will be compatible with and linked to other natural resource data.

This project aims to develop a Framework for Reporting Environmental Data (FRED) to improve the assembly of multi-agency environmental data used for the NSW State of the Environment (SoE) report. The purpose is to move data collected for this purpose into a continuous and dynamic reporting environment.

SPADE Plus is a spatial viewer for the delivery of soil and land spatial information to the Internet via the CANRI framework. This information includes hundreds of maps of soil and land characteristics from areas mapped by the Soil Landscape and related programs in NSW, along with (progressively) additional areas mapped over time. SPADE Plus will source both point and spatial soil and land information from the NSW Soil And Land Information System (SALIS), DLWC’s corporate soil and land database and a component of DLWC’s Enterprise Database (EDB). SPADE Plus is a follow-on project to SPADE (http://spade.dlwc.nsw.gov.au), which delivers point-source soil profile information over the Internet.

A digital geological dataset for the whole state at a minium scale of 250,000 is being created in an object-oriented Geodatabase model. This dataset will allow spatial analysis and interrogation of separate seamless geological layers, including surficial, bedrock and basement geology with a complete set of attributes. Considerable data compilation and geological interpretation work is required to fill in the gaps in surficial and bedrock data layers. Work will be carried out in the latter stages of this project to ‘edge join’ various datasets to make the end product more coherent.

Water quality information users have an increasing requirement for access to data in a more timely manner. The use of Internet technology is considered one of the most effective tools in disseminating information to wider audiences. It is the intention of the DLWC to publish water quality data collected from various sources so as to provide ready access to the information. Due to the nature of these datasets, it is planned that project development will take in four phases: Phase 1 2001/02 To publish water quality summary information of stored data in the DLWC Enterprise Database (EDB). Phase 2 To publish water quality information from key datasets (Keysites Program) stored in the Enterprise Database To link to other NSW water quality datasets (eg: Environmental Protection Agency, Sydney Water). Site documentation Phase 3 (2002/03) To integrate the WQIS with other DLWC water quality datasets eg Streamwatch, Integrated Water Management Framework. To integrate the WQIS with external agency data. Phase 4 (As required) To publish reports and studies of water quality programs (interpreted where appropriate) about water quality data stored in the EDB. To continue to add value to water quality information available through the WQIS 34

This project will review the taxonomic keys that exist in the Australian Museum literature and select a number to be published on the internet. In addition other data held by the Museum will be used to work up a number of comprehensive image based taxonomic keys. Both of these sets of keys will be published on the Australian Museum FaunaNet site. It is expected that between 20 and 50 keys will be presented as simple text keys and several others presented as comprehensive image based keys.

WISE bibliographic databases spatially linked to rivers, wetlands and catchments, will be made available to all users via the Internet. Packages are available on CDRoms for the Macquarie, Barwon-Darling, Namoi and Hacking catchments. Packages for the Paroo, Warrego and Gwydir catchments are near finalisation and will be completed by December 2001.

Provide strategic direction and coordination to the CANRI Program to meet its objectives as stated in its Business Plan and interpreted by the CANRI Program Board. Develop and publicise the CANRI framework. Oversee and coordinate CANRI funded projects. Support the work of the CANRI Program Board, CANRI Program Implementation Group and CANRI Community Reference Group. Liaise with key agencies and programs at State, national and international level. Develop and maintain the CANRI website and associated information products.