African People & Wildlife Honored for Special Achievement in GIS
Media Contact
Laura Milton
lmilton@africanpeoplewildlife.org
+1 (908) 642-1540
July 14, 2020
Arusha, Tanzania – African People & Wildlife has been honored as a 2020 recipient of Esri’s prestigious Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) Award. Selected from over 100,000 eligible candidates, African People & Wildlife was honored at the 2020 Esri User Conference for the organization’s innovative application of mapping and analytics technology as well as thought leadership in the field of conservation.
The SAG Awards are meant to show appreciation for organizations using GIS to understand complex data and meet challenges around the world. Through unique approaches to geospatial science, the users honored with awards are demonstrating groundbreaking possibilities of GIS software.
A key priority at African People & Wildlife is empowering community members to collect the data they need for decision-making and program evaluation. Esri’s ArcGIS platform puts critical information into the hands of communities in real time, enabling them to visualize and use data that impact their lives, including changes in pasture quality as a result of rangeland monitoring and human-wildlife conflict trends and hotspots defined by conflict reporting.
"We are honored to receive this award from Esri," said Laly Lichtenfeld, African People & Wildlife co-founder and CEO. "The ArcGIS platform helps us to continually innovate and evolve our programs in partnership with communities. I’m so excited about the new discoveries and possibilities that lie ahead.”
The ArcGIS platform allows the African People & Wildlife team to visualize landscape-level trends and maintain a personalized relationship with government, conservation, business, and philanthropic partners, along with each of the diverse communities the organization strives to support.
This year's Esri User Conference was the world's largest, virtual GIS event. African People & Wildlife was one of over 180 organizations in areas such as commercial industry, defense, transportation, nonprofit work, telecommunications, and government to be honored. Recipients were recognized by Jack Dangermond, Esri founder and president, during the event. Esri staff annually nominate hundreds of candidates from around the world for consideration, and Dangermond selects the finalists.
For more information on how African People & Wildlife is innovating through the use of geospatial technology, visit africanpeoplewildlife.org/our-work/impact/impact-summary.
About African People & Wildlife
African People & Wildlife works to ensure a future where humans and wild animals coexist and thrive. Operating on the ground in Tanzania, African People & Wildlife establishes long-term relationships with communities based on the respectful integration of science and tradition. African People & Wildlife’s holistic approach to conservation is widely applicable in landscapes where people and wildlife coexist. Founded in 2005, African People & Wildlife is a recognized leader in the field of community-driven conservation.
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