Since 1992 the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre has served the public by gathering, interpreting and distributing standardized information on the ecological status of Saskatchewan wild species and communities. The SKCDC was formed as a co-operative venture between the province of Saskatchewan (Saskatchewan Environment), the Nature Conservancy (USA), and the Nature Conservancy of Canada. Currently, the SKCDC resides in the Resource Stewardship Branch of Saskatchewan Environment. The SKCDC is a member of NatureServe and its affiliate, NatureServe Canada. NatureServe is a non-profit conservation organization that provides the scientific information and tools needed to help guide effective conservation action. NatureServe and its network of natural heritage programs, of which SKCDC is a part, are the leading source for information about rare and endangered species as well as threatened ecosystems. The NatureServe network includes seventy-four independent Natural Heritage Programs and Conservation Data Centres throughout the Western Hemisphere, with some 800 dedicated scientists and a collective annual budget of more than $45 million. In 2004 the SKCDC had over 9,500 mapped occurrences for species of special concern in Saskatchewan, and continues to collect data. These occurrences are stored electronically in the SKCDC Biotics database. Biotics is a data management software which allows for spatial data management, tabular data management, data import/export and reconciliation, and reporting; it has a spatial component (GIS) that supports digital mapping, spatial analyses, and data visualization. The Biotics Application at SKCDC supports on-line initiatives like the Ecosystem Image Information System, the Bird Atlas, and the Project Review website.
Steve Porter