# Developing a 'place' for an entire coastline **URL:** \ **Category:** General\ **Tags:** question\ **Created:** [October 12, 2023, 9:14pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/developing-a-place-for-an-entire-coastline/45948 "2023-10-12T21:14:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![simongrove](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/simongrove/32/40264_2.png) [@simongrove](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/simongrove)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 9:14pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/developing-a-place-for-an-entire-coastline/45948/1 "2023-10-12T21:14:57Z")
Can anyone explain if and how one can develop a ‘place’ (or import a KML file for one) that comprises the entire coastline of a particular area - in my case, the coast of Tasmania, Australia? I’d like to constrain records for a project called 'OceanWatch Tasmania) to the shoreline and, say, a km out to sea and 100 m inland. I guess there are no tools in iNaturalist to do this, but what about in Google maps or some other mapping program? Or am I flogging a dead horse here? ---
**Author:** ![jemmamontgomery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b487fb/32.png) [@jemmamontgomery](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/jemmamontgomery)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 9:25pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/developing-a-place-for-an-entire-coastline/45948/2 "2023-10-12T21:25:44Z")
This article lays out the place-making process pretty well- [https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/getting+started#:~:text=In%20order%20to%20create%20a,under%20More%20in%20the%20header.&text=Upload%20the%20boundary%20as%20a%20KML%20file](https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/getting+started#:~:text=In%20order%20to%20create%20a,under%20More%20in%20the%20header.&text=Upload%20the%20boundary%20as%20a%20KML%20file). You can make your own KML file in Google Earth if there isn’t one out there already. There is a size limit on new places of about 700,000 sq km. ---
**Author:** ![sdjbrown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@sdjbrown](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/sdjbrown)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 10:14pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/developing-a-place-for-an-entire-coastline/45948/3 "2023-10-12T22:14:19Z")
This can be done by using GIS tools. In the freely available QGIS, for example, you can take a shape file of the area of interest (e.g. the coastline of Tasmania), and create two buffers (one of -100 m for your inland zone and one of 1000 m for your nearshore zone). Then you can make a layer of the difference between these two buffers. This resulting layer can be exported as a KML file. ---
**Author:** ![lawnranger](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/lawnranger/32/34961_2.png) [@lawnranger](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/lawnranger)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 5:52am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/developing-a-place-for-an-entire-coastline/45948/4 "2023-10-13T05:52:00Z")
There are two existing places on iNat that may fit your need: [https://www.inaturalist.org/places/tasmania-marine-waters-east](https://www.inaturalist.org/places/tasmania-marine-waters-east) [https://www.inaturalist.org/places/tasmania-marine-waters-west](https://www.inaturalist.org/places/tasmania-marine-waters-west) ---
**Author:** ![simongrove](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/simongrove/32/40264_2.png) [@simongrove](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/simongrove)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 7:39am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/developing-a-place-for-an-entire-coastline/45948/5 "2023-10-13T07:39:03Z")
Thanks. Yes, I started with these layers but they continue inland a long way into the terrestrial realm, which means that loads of my non-coastal/non-marine records appear as part of the project. Thanks anyway! ---
**Author:** ![simongrove](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/simongrove/32/40264_2.png) [@simongrove](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/simongrove)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 7:39am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/developing-a-place-for-an-entire-coastline/45948/6 "2023-10-13T07:39:44Z")
Thank you. That’s very helpful - I’ll see if I can do just that! ---
**Author:** ![simongrove](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/simongrove/32/40264_2.png) [@simongrove](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/simongrove)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 7:41am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/developing-a-place-for-an-entire-coastline/45948/7 "2023-10-13T07:41:58Z")
Thanks, yes, I was following that process. The difficulty is in providing that all-important KML file comprising just a narrow strip of coastline. But I think another answer to my question may have resolved this. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/7/7831452cf7f0d653ff1ffd34176334b7ef1b6a17.png) [@system](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/system)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2023, 7:42am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/developing-a-place-for-an-entire-coastline/45948/8 "2023-12-12T07:42:38Z")
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