Geographic Information Systems (GIs) is a computer based mapping system which allows a variety of geographic themes, such as the earth's terrain surfaces, cadastral data, and natural and earth resources, to be displayed on screen to produce computer maps of the earth's surface at very large scales (1:1000) or at much smaller scales at (1:1,000,000). A GIs combines the power of mapped information stored digitally, together with theme attributes stored in simple databases, which together are linked to modelling and spatial analysis tools.

I have been involved in GIs since the early 1980's when working with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, I managed the development of a fire prediction system, called PREPLAN in the Blue Mountains-Wollemi region of the Sandstone plateau west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. PREPLAN stands for Pristine Resource Environment Planning system. This early development of a simple GIs used for fire modelling employed some rudimentary GIs systems which stored information about vegetation, fuels, and terrain of a fire-prone region of New South Wales.

In 1987, the National Parks and Wildlife Service of New South Wales developed a simple GIs software package, called E-RMS. E-RMS stood for Environmental Resource Mapping System. This GIs served the NPWS for nearly ten years as a means of storing natural and cultural resource data within and adjoining the NPWS reserve system. Much of the data collected for PREPLAN was either transferred or digitised for use in E-RMS. E-RMS enabled the capture of a huge amount of natural resource information on reserves

The shortcomings of E-RMS were becoming a major limit to the expansion and use of GIs within the NPWS. These shortcomings spurred the NPWS in 1997 to find to find an alternative GIs Following an exhaustive tender selection process, the NPWS decided on Arcview and Arc-Info GIs to replace the in-house E-RMS. This move was timely as the Comprehensive Regional Assessment of Forests (CRA) was underway in New South Wales. From 1997 until 2000, I was a Manager, Comprehensive Regional Assessment Unit, of the Southern Zone of NPWS in the forefront of new GIs and modelling applications. I co-ordinated a biodiversity data unit which compiled geographic information on forest plants and animals for the Environment and Heritage Assessments. The unit, together with others from the Central and Northern Regions of the NPWS, spearheaded new uses and development of Arcview GIs in spatial capture and modelling of biodiversity data.

This preamble is intended to give prospective clients some idea of my extensive knowledge. My business EcoGIS is based on this extensive knowledge and expertise in GIs and its potential application in conservation evaluation and natural resource management.

Further information on the business services in GIS and the areas of expertise will be posted to the web-site at a later date.