Import/Catalogue/Collaborative Australian Protected Areas Database (CAPAD)
As of March 2022, the most recent datasets available for import into OpenStreetMap are:
- CAPAD 2020 - Terrestrial (CC-BY) - this dataset includes government, indigenous and privately protected areas for continental Australia.
- CAPAD 2020 - Marine (CC-BY) - this dataset includes off-shore protected areas in both state and Commonwealth waters. For Commonwealth protected areas, consider using the more descriptive dataset for Australia's network of Commonwealth Marine Reserves (CC-BY)
CAPAD 2014 is available under a CC-BY licence and is available for importing into OpenStreetMap. Previous revisions should also be allowable.
Dataset information
The Collaborative Australian Protected Areas Database (CAPAD) contains geospatial information about government, Indigenous and privately protected areas. The data is compiled from the relevant Australian federal, state and territory departments responsible for managing protected areas. It is updated on a bi-yearly schedule.
The two applicable datasets are CAPAD Terrestrial and CAPAD Marine. Unlike what the names might imply; CAPAD Terrestrial does contain some protected areas that are predominantly marine and vice-versa.
Data relevance to OpenStreetMap
Some areas are more important for including into OpenStreetMap and this might be considered when importing. For example: National Parks, protected areas with high conservation values (e.g. IUCN Ia, Ib, II, III), Indigenous Protected Areas, protected areas with a large area, locally well-known areas.
Pre-existing data
Many protected areas have been imported into OpenStreetMap directly from data owner (e.g. state government). If updating a protected area, always confirm the most recent data source before overwriting existing data.
Suggested/proposed tagging
When importing, consider the following non-authoritative guidelines for tagging. Always provide appropriate attribution.
NAME | TYPE | IUCN | GAZ_DATE | AUTHORITY | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
KEY | name | protection_title | protect_class | start_date | operator |
boundary | leisure | operator_type | source | wikipedia | website |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
protected_area
or national_park |
nature_reserve | government | CAPAD year - Terrestrial
or CAPAD year - Marine |
if applicable | if applicable |
Protected areas with multiple relations
Some protected areas under the same name have multiple relations and can overlap, typically this is because of different protection classifications within the protected area. The most extravagant example for this is the Great Barrier Reef with over 2000 separate relations.
For a number of reasons with the most obvious being ease of import and maintenance, a highly fragmented protected area of the same name may be combined into a single relation.
Consider multiple key values to reduce omitted data (e.g. multiple values for protect_class). Consider preserving ways which outline areas of high conservation value (e.g. IUCN Ia, Ib, II).
CAPAD data in OpenStreetMap
Tasmania
As of mid 2016, all (if not most) protected areas within Tasmania which are classified as:
- National Parks
- Conservation Areas
- State Reserves
- Nature Recreation Areas
- Nature Reserves
- Regional Reserves
- State Reserves
- Marine Reserves
Have been added or updated in OpenStreetMap with 2014 CAPAD data.
Australian Marine Parks (formerly Commonwealth Marine Reserves)
- 31 July 2018: 2018 dataset release fully integrated into OpenStreetMap.