Remote sensing is increasingly important in providing a foundation for conservation planning, and advances in technological capabilities as well as data analysis and accessibility promise further gains in the future.  This is especially critical in more remote regions of the world, where development pressures often outpace conservation efforts, and data collected on the ground may be sparse or unavailable.  Recent work in the Madre de Dios watershed of Peru and Bolivia illustrates how new remote sensing data and image processing technologies can be combined to yield an unprecedented view of the distribution of floodplains and wetlands, and how this information can be used in conservation planning.  Data from Landsat ETM+ (optical multispectral), JERS-1 (L-band radar), and the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (C-band interferometric Digital Elevation Models) were integrated in an object-oriented image analysis approach to distinguish floodplains from uplands, and to discern water bodies and various classes of floodplain vegetation.  Results were integrated into a watershed-wide conservation plan that analyzed how well existing protected areas represented the diversity of rivers, floodplains and wetlands, and provided suggestions to improve protection of these environments.