One day course in Brisbane at the University of Queensland.

Marxan (Ian Ball and Hugh Possingham, 2000) is a software program used to support the design of marine and terrestrial reserves worldwide.  Using Marxan, conservation planners can identify an efficient system of conservation sites that include a suite of biodiversity targets at a minimal cost.  Marxan provides a unique method for designing reserves that is systematic and repeatable. 

It is the most utilized conservation planning tool worldwide; over 60 countries, 1100 users, and 600 organizations use Marxan to support the design of terrestrial and marine reserves.  For example, it has been used to help zone the Great Barrier Marine Park, design marine reserves in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, and set spatial priorities in the Romanian Carpathians to protect large carnivores.  Marxan is available at no charge from The Spatial Ecology Lab: Download Marxan Software.

Course Description

This hands-on course will build on the introductory course by providing participants with advanced skills using Marxan.  During the day long course, the following advanced Marxan functions will be covered:

• Probabilistic Treatment of Threats
• Probabilistic Treatment of Species Distributions
• Cluster Analysis of Marxan Solutions
• Multiple Use Zoning
• Zonae Cogito Graphical User Interface

Each participant will have access to a computer equipped with Marxan and Zonae Cogito.   The course is partially supported by the CERF funded Australian Environmental Decision Analysis hub (AEDA) and the Australian Government Natural Heritage Trust (NHT).

Course Instructors

All instructors are based at The University of Queensland’s Ecology Centre in The Spatial Ecology Laboratory (http://www.uq.edu.au/spatialecology/).

• Matthew Watts, Research Associate
• Lindsay Kircher, Research Associate

Prerequisites 

Participants were required to have basic technical knowledge of excel, GIS, and Marxan.
Courses were conducted in English.

Course Material for Download