Bringing the Outdoors Online and Using Technology for Good

Challenges

• Use technology as a tool to help people explore some of the most iconic and historically significant landscapes in our country.
• Engage new audiences by giving them opportunities to experience the great outdoors that they otherwise might not have.
• Bring awareness to the importance of land conservation in America.

Solutions

The Conservation Fund and its local partners teamed up with Google Maps to create virtual tours of some of America’s most important places—its parks, waterways and even battlefields. Our staff borrowed and set out with Trekker, a 4-foot-tall, 40-pound camera and backpack, that’s part of Google’s project to create a digital reflection of the world for people to explore and enjoy. Now, these spectacular places are online in Street View in Google Maps for the world to see.

“Much like Google, we are innovators. We find creative ways to engage people in conservation, and this partnership with Google is a brilliant illustration of that. Trekker expeditions spark curiosity, and give people all across the globe a view of the world they may never get to see in person. These treks will inspire a new generation to discover the outdoors and will foster a compassionate, respectful relationship with the natural world.”

—Jazmin Varela, Information Manager, Strategic Conservation Planning, The Conservation Fund

Results

The result is a virtual tour of 14 sites across the country where The Conservation Fund played a role in permanent protection. Some of these sites include: