Nature needs action now. OpenNature accelerates the creation of open, operational biodiversity data systems for action on biodiversity. The OpenNature initiative is a collective driven by urgency, committed to openness, and creating better data for a better planet.
With less than seven years to meet goals to halt the biodiversity decline and reign in greenhouse gas emissions, nature needs action now. Yet, despite stringent policy targets, numerous biodiversity metrics and indicators, the decline of nature continues unabated. Lack of access to operational nature data systems is a major limitation to measuring and reducing our society's impact on biodiversity.
There are two major reasons for this. First, too much critical biodiversity knowledge is locked up in restrictive systems or licenses. Second, most current incumbents are lagging behind in adopting new technologies to integrate and operationalise what data we have. For businesses, local governments, park managers, conservationists, researchers, and communities, this puts a brake on action and improvements in societal knowledge that would otherwise be possible with operational, open digital public good datasets.
Open data is data that can be freely used, re-used and redistributed by anyone — subject only, at most, to the requirement to attribute and sharealike. — Open Data Handbook.
Open nature data products would allow any organization to access the data needed to inform decisions. It also allows anyone to work with or build on that data to improve our knowledge and capabilities. In other words, it accelerates both the impact and accumulation of knowledge for the benefit of society.
An Operational Biodiversity Data system is a dynamic, continuously functioning and iteratively updating platform designed to integrate, process, and distribute biodiversity data at various scales to support conservation, policy-making, and scientific research. Its core aim is to provide actionable, up-to-date insights into biodiversity trends and ecosystem health while making this data openly accessible and usable by a wide range of stakeholders, including scientists, governments, businesses, and local communities. An open operational biodiversity data system focused on decision grade data products does not currently exist.
By growing open, operational biodiversity data systems, OpenNature will deliver fundamental digital public goods into the economy that will help to inform corporate and community biodiversity decision-making. For example, helping:
We aim to change the conversation on what is possible. To demonstrate that there is a novel, more effective model for an open, operational biodiversity monitoring system that can accelerate action towards more positive biodiversity outcomes.
Use technology to gather, evaluate and integrate information about different species and ecosystems quickly:
Make all our findings and data available to anyone, anywhere, without restrictions. We also develop systems to allow this to happen:
Ensure that information about biodiversity is as accessible as possible, and is used in businesses, schools, governments, and communities to make better decisions for our planet.
Estimates suggest that the private sector will be needed to invest billions of dollars into biodiversity and conservation, yet the sector cannot currently access the majority of nature datasets. Open biodiversity digital public good datasets can fertilize the ground to allow these investments to grow.
Another key aspect of this is developing tools to increase access to the information needed by organisations and communities to answer the questions they face, for example through Nature AI systems. Since decision-making often takes place at the local scale, a key need is to make the data and knowledge usable at this scale.