Conservation Planning Tools Assessment
Barriers to Use
Organizational Support
- The assessment asked what level of agreement each respondent had with the following statements regarding support for using conservation planning tools within their organization (see Figure 10 below).
Figure 10: Level of Agreement with Each Statement About Organizational Support, whereby +2=strongly agree and -2=strongly disagree
| Statement | Agreed: Ranked +1 or +2 (Percent/Number) | Mean Summary |
| There is strong support for conservation planning tools in our organization. | 49% (924) | +0.5 |
| Our organization is very aware of the capabilities of conservation tools for planning-related work. | 48% (896) | +0.4 |
| Our organization has sufficient technical support for conservation planning tools. | 44% (827) | +0.2 |
| Our organization pays for all of the training we need in conservation planning tools. | 27% (497) | -0.3 |
| Our organization has funds allocated to invest sufficiently in conservation planning tools. | 18% (341) | -0.6 |
Factors Preventing the Use of Conservation Tools
- Respondents were also asked what factors have prevented them from using conservation planning tools in their work (see Figure 11 below).
Figure 11: Factors Preventing the Use of Conservation Planning Tools
| Preventing Factor | Total (Percent/Number) |
| Cost of tool/software | 55% (1028) |
| Time needed to learn tool | 50% (944) |
| Cost of training | 47% (883) |
| Not enough data/wrong kind of data | 19% (361) |
| Hardware issues/not enough computer capacity | 14% (255) |
| Not aware of tools/availability/uses/value | 7% (136) |
| Tools not applicable/necessary/worthwhile/useful | 5% (98) |
| Leadership/management/community-client not interested or supportive | 4% (76) |
| Not applicable to position/used by others | 3% (55) |
| Low priority/not the main focus of work/organization | 2% (42) |
| Current tools are sufficient | 2% (35) |
| Indicated at least one | 89% (1663) |
Level of Interest in Training
- 19% of all respondents indicated a "very high" interest in training with specific conservation planning tools. 32% had a "somewhat high" interest; 31% "moderate" interest; 11% "somewhat low" interest; and 6% "very low" interest. Only 3% had no answer. Map 1 below provides a regional look, specifically at the percentages of respondents in each with a "very high" and "somewhat high" interest in training.
Map 1: Level of Interest in Web-Based Training or Workshops Focused on the Use of Specific Conservation Planning Tools and Issues Related to Tools, grouped by 9 regions. The color scale and corresponding number represents the percentage of respondents in each region whose interest level was very high or somewhat high.
- Planners face a number of challenges in using data for conservation planning. Of those, "finding money to pay for software and training" topped the list with 64% of all respondents. A "lack of trained staff" was reported by 47%. The issue of "not knowing what data and information are available to my jurisdiction/client" was claimed by 42%. 32% saw a "lack of local support" as one of their biggest challenges. Other answers are included in Figure 12 below.
Figure 12: Challenges in Using Data for Conservation Planning
| Challenge | Percent/Number |
| Finding money to pay for software and training | 64% (1205) |
| Lack of trained staff | 47% (876) |
| Not knowing what data and information are available to my jurisdiction/client | 42% (780) |
| Lack of local support | 32% (605) |
| Technical difficulty of using unfamiliar data | 31% (578) |
| Suitability of scale | 29% (540) |
| Obstacles to data sharing | 25% (460) |
| Unfamiliarity with particular ecosystems or habitats | 11% (201) |
| Lack of time | 2% (33) |
| Other | 7% (132) |
| Indicated at least one | 90% (1689) |
| None | 5% (85) |
| No answer | 5% (98) |
