The Marxan Connect application is designed to help conservation practitioners include “connectivity” in their protected area network planning. The term “connectivity” has a variety of definitions (e.g., larval connectivity, genetic connectivity, landscape connectivity) and protected area networks can be optimized for various connectivity objectives. The application is intended to guide conservation practitioners to preprocess and prepare connectivity data for inclusion in Marxan, the most widely-used decision-support tool for conservation planning.
Course description
This hands-on technical course is tailored for conservation practitioners, academics, and decision-makers interested in learning more about connectivity and how it can be incorporated in protected area network planning using Marxan Connect. The objective of this course is to enable trainees to gain a better understanding of connectivity concepts and data, along with the basic knowledge and skills required to set up and run Marxan Connect.
Topics covered in this course include:
- Introduction to “connectivity” definitions, concepts, and data types
- Main approaches for integrating connectivity data into protected area network planning
- How can Marxan Connect facilitate the inclusion of connectivity in protected area network planning?
- How to set up and run Marxan Connect with connectivity data
- How to interpret Marxan results within the Marxan Connect app
This course was originally developed by:
With funding for the development of this course was provided by the Canadian Healthy Oceans Network (CHONe) a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Strategic Network, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Online Course Format
Online courses are 3 to 4 days in duration. Each day includes a 3.5 hours online live session with course trainers and participants, followed by activities that will be completed offline and individually. The course will be hosted using online platforms like Zoom.
In-person Course Format
The duration of in-person trainings will be between 2 to 3 days, with morning and afternoon sessions. Each day will include presentations and in-class hands-on activities.
Course pre-requisites
Participants need to a basic knowledge of Marxan to be able to complete the hands-on exercises. Participants are expected to have access to a personal computer during the course.
Cost and Registration
Upcoming courses will be listed in our Upcoming Courses page. The cost for each course will be listed in the course registration page and it will vary depending on the course format (in-person or online). For more information about this course please contact Norma Serra at nserra[at]pacmara.org.