National Geographic and LandScope
National Geographic’s explorers, research grantees, writers, and photographers have been exploring the far corners of the world since 1888. If a single story could be told on the basis of this 119 years of activity, it is that the world is changing at an unprecedented rate as the size of the human population, and its consumption of resources, increases.
Our primary goal at National Geographic is to inspire people to care about the planet. I’m convinced that LandScope will be an innovative new means of inspiring people to help protect America’s significant and breathtaking piece of our earth. With huge tracts of land being developed every year, it’s more urgent than ever that we work to ensure that a large proportion of our remaining natural landscape is preserved.
I’ve long felt that maps can tell stories in interesting ways. LandScope America will use maps, deliviered dynamically on the web, to depict America’s natural lands, show its biological diversity, outline development threats, and point people toward land trusts and other organizations that can make a difference. We also plan to produce a LandScope America wall map that will give an overview of America’s rich natural heritage and the challenges of land conservation. Look for it in mid-2008.
Allen Carroll
Chief Cartographer
National Geographic Society
- Allen Carroll