- Dynamic movement data adds a temporal dimension to spatial analysis, revealing how people, wildlife, and other moving elements interact with landscapes over time.
- Integrating dynamic movement data with project information in web applications, such as “ES GeoHub”, can help identify potential spatial interactions and areas that may require further review.
- When combined with biodiversity and other territorial datasets, dynamic movement data supports more informed risk analysis, project planning, and decision-making.
Understanding biodiversity in the territorial context of development projects is an important part of environmental due diligence. Biodiversity information helps us understand the ecological importance of areas near interventions. However, it does not always show how wildlife moves or where animal paths might intersect with roads, energy facilities, or other infrastructure.
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is exploring how Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking data and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can complement biodiversity information and help reduce environmental and operational risk. By integrating animal movement data with project locations, we can identify potential interactions between wildlife and development projects earlier. This can support better-informed environmental planning and decision-making.
Dynamic Movement Data for Better Project Decisions
Much geographic analysis relies on static data layers that represent conditions at a specific point in time. However, GIS can also incorporate dynamic data, such as human mobility patterns, public transportation movements, logistics flows, and route optimization. Similarly, animal movement data can show how species use and move through landscapes. This helps us understand potential interactions between wildlife and development projects in a given area.
Identifying potential environmental risks early is an important part of planning the location and design of development projects. For a road infrastructure project, for example, understanding how wildlife movement patterns intersect with a proposed route can help identify potential risks before construction begins. This information can support better route alignment decisions and help minimize impacts on ecologically sensitive areas. It can also reduce the need for costly design changes later. When key environmental information emerges too late, it can trigger additional studies or design revisions. These can increase costs and delay the project.
Biodiversity maps, including maps of protected areas, key biodiversity areas, and species ranges, are important tools for understanding environmental risks, as indicated by the IDB's Environmental and Social Performance Standard ESPS-6 (Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Living Natural Resources). However, these maps are static and mainly show ecologically important areas or places where species may be present. They do not always show where animals have actually moved.
Unlike static maps, GPS tracking data shows where tracked animals have moved over time. It can reveal movement routes, frequently used areas, potential wildlife corridors, and seasonal patterns. When combined with existing biodiversity information, GPS tracking data can provide a clearer picture of wildlife activity around a development project. It can also highlight concerns that static maps alone might miss.
Connecting Movement Data with Projects through ES GeoHub
ES GeoHub, an internal GIS platform used by the IDB, brings project and environmental information together in one place. Adding animal movement data allows specialists to view the locations and paths of tracked animals alongside IDB project areas. Specialists can see where they overlap or come close, providing an early indication of potential operational risk.
These spatial patterns can serve as an early signal for further review. They can help prioritize additional data collection, field surveys, or input from biodiversity specialists. They can also inform decisions about project location, facility placement, construction timing, design alternatives, and measures to reduce potential impacts.
By identifying environmental concerns early, project teams have more time to respond. This can help avoid costly design changes and delays, protecting project resources and the timely delivery of infrastructure and services. In this way, ES GeoHub helps turn patterns on a map into practical information for project planning and risk management.
Using Movement Data Responsibly
Animal movement data can be useful beyond the early stages of project planning. It may also support environmental monitoring during execution. As tracking data becomes available for more species, regions, and seasons, it can offer a richer picture of how wildlife uses areas affected by development.
At the same time, these datasets need to be carefully interpreted. GPS records usually cover only a limited number of animals and a specific period or season. If no movement is recorded in an area, it does not mean that a species is absent or never uses that area.
Animal movement data should therefore be considered together with other sources, including species range maps, habitat information, field surveys, and expert knowledge. Used responsibly, it can add valuable context to environmental risk analysis and support more informed, sustainable, and resilient investment decisions.
Better Data, Better Decisions
GIS makes it possible to visualize and analyze multiple layers of information simultaneously. Combining biodiversity and social data, for example, can provide a more comprehensive understanding of territorial risks and opportunities. To learn how the IDB is integrating social information into risk analysis, read Cartographic Perspectives for Risk Analysis: The Territorial Dimension of Social Data.