Filling the gap of Biodiversity Data available to properly assess businesses impacts

About the question of data availability and reducing costs of assessing projects and businesses impacts, what about improving Biodiversity Occurrence Data (or Primary Biodiversity Data - PBD) sharing through open data platform like GBIF?

Companies, stakeholders and researchers continue to complain about the cost of businesses biodiversity dependencies and impact assessment.

There is decades now that companies are request to implement Environmental Impact Assessments for the most impacting projects. PBD have been collected for decades now since companies and consulting services are requested to deliver EIAS but data continue to fall short ... because they are not published and shared.... This remark could also be extended to research activities as many biodiversity data collected by public or private researchers are not systematically shared and published.

Global biodiversity models (like the excellent Globio or Predict Models) are also falling short of data to assess dependencies and impacts on some key Ecosystems services or Biodiversity Values.  

What about changing the rule of game by voluntary or compulsory requesting basic biodiversity occurrence data observation to become open data shared on global open platform like GBIF?

Thanks to the help of GBIF, we, at French Development Agency, have assessed the situation in developing countries where we operate. It appears that development banks (without speaking about companies and research institutions) could play an important role by requesting their clients to share their PBD if the EIAS they help to deliver are not necessarily publics.



Our assessment show that publishing on GBIF PBD from IEAs cost is limited : less that 0,7% of a standard EIA (or additional 3300 € to EIAs standard cost in 2020)

See:

• About PBD data sharing issues : https://ideas4development.org/en/biodiversity-toward-better-data-sharing/
• About the role of development banks in data sharing : https://ideas4development.org/en/biodiversity-data-role-development-bank/

GBIF initiative :

-           FR : https://www.gbif.org/fr/data4nature

-           EN : https://www.gbif.org/en/data4nature  

-           ES : https://www.gbif.org/es/data4nature

AFD Initiative :

-           FR : https://www.afd.fr/fr/ressources/presentation-de-l-initative-data4nature  

-           EN : https://www.afd.fr/en/ressources/data4nature-presentation-initiative

-           ES : https://www.afd.fr/es/ressources/data4nature-presentacion-de-la-iniciativa

On a practical guide for AFD client to publish their PBD :

• EN: https://www.afd.fr/sites/afd/files/2021-03-10-23-30/data4nature-practical-recommendations-guide.pdf

FR : https://www.afd.fr/sites/afd/files/2021-02-03-10-08/data4nature-guide-recommandations-pratiques.pdf