Presentation of the Data4Nature initiative

AN INITIATIVETO ENCOURAGE
THE SHARING
OF BIODIVERSITYDATA GENERATEDBY DEVELOPMENT
PROJECTS,VIA GBIF.

Data4Nature
Share to protect
An initiative to encourage thesharing of biodiversity data
generated by development
projects through the GBIF globalnetwork
September 2020

The  core  of  the  matter
Through the projects and studies they finance, public development banks assist their clients in
producing flora and fauna observation data, which represents a valuable asset in maintaining
biodiversity in developing countries. Whereas the dissemination of some studies may be
restricted or even confidential, the data on which they are based do not carry the same weight.
Since data are not published, they are currently largely underexploited. By using very few
resources, public development banks and their clients can easily make the collected data
accessible to scientists and other users (policy makers, environmental agencies, consultants,etc.) and thus contribute not only to the fight against the erosion of biodiversity, but also tosustainable development in sectors such as food security, climate change and human health.
Development banks can better assess how efficient the mobilization of resources is for the post2020 agreement of the Convention on Biological Biodiversity.

The  development  banks  and  their  clients  produce  a  wide  range  of  biodiversity  data  As part of the studies and projects they finance, development banks assist their clientsin producing a significant number of important raw biodiversity data. These data are
generally collected in the field by specialized consulting firms, as part of environmental impact
studies and any potential following environmental monitoring studies. As shown in the diagram
below, their consulting firms are directly commissioned by the contractor, whose project isfinanced by one or more funders.

Figure 1: Production of raw biodiversity data in projects financed by public development banks

What  do  we  mean  by  “raw  biodiversity  data”?
Raw biodiversity data refers to the observation of fauna or flora situated in time and space.
This type of data, also known as taxon occurrence data, provides evidence that a species (orsome other taxon) is present in a particular location on a given date.
Raw biodiversity data generally arise from  field  naturalists’  inventories.  As  such,  this  data  may  be collected in different ways. Most often, they result from visual observations or auditory
contact. However, they may also be obtained through recordings (camera traps in the caseof large fauna or ultrasound detectors in the case of bats, for example), or from sample
collections (environmental DNA in the case of aquatic fauna, for example).

2

Data4Nature
Share to protect
An initiative to encourage thesharing of biodiversity data
generated by development
projects through the GBIF globalnetwork
September 2020

Every environmental impact study results in the compilation of an average of 500 to 1,000 itemsof raw biodiversity data1. Given this estimate and the number of environmental impact studies
financed, the French Development Agency (AFD) is likely to contribute to the production of anaverage of 30,000 items of raw biodiversity data per year. If this figure is then extrapolated to themajor multilateral development banks, in proportion to their financial commitments, almost
300,000 items of raw biodiversity data are likely to be produced annually.2Encouraging  open  access  to  data  is  key  to  biodiversity  conservation
Wildlife is under serious threat
In its 2019 report on the state of biodiversity, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform
on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) reports   an   “unprecedented”   and  accelerating species extinction rate. It indicates that the current global response isinadequate, and  that  “transformative  changes”  are  needed  to  restore  and  protect  nature.  Thispress release also highlights that 1,000,000 species are threatened with extinction, out of the8,000,000 globally known species.

To tackle biodiversity erosion, significant
knowledge of the distribution and healthstatus of animal and plant species isindispensible. More open-access raw
biodiversity data reduce costs and improve
the quality of studies. In particular, theyfacilitate the definition and assessment of
any undertaken actions to preserve
biodiversity. For example, raw biodiversity
data are used to compile red lists ofendangered species or to calibrate indicatorsof a   company’s   or   financial   institution’s Figure 2: An unpublished observation of theGrasslandFrog(Ptychadena
environmental footprint, or to assess the Cameroon
retropunctata) made in June 2018 near Labé in theefficiency of public policies.
Fouta Djalon Mountains of Guinea (Photo credit:Jean Cassaigne – Biotope)

While the financing needs to implement the ecological transitions needed by 2030 are
estimated to be between 300-600 billion dollars per year, development banks have anopportunity to facilitate the assessment of the mobilized resources efficiency bypromoting data sharing.

In this context, the large number of raw biodiversity data acquired through development bankfunding become more and more valuable, and their publication may help conserve biodiversity.

Up to now, these data are generally only used in the study for which they were collected. Beyond
this, they fail to contribute to increasing biodiversity knowledge, as they are neither published,
nor accessible, nor reusable for future studies.

1

Estimate supplied by Biotope based on their experience (https://www.biotope.fr/)
Using the figures for 2018 financial commitments, it is estimated that the amount of raw data produced
per year by each funding institution is as follows: World Bank: 142,095; Asian Development Bank: 48,032;
KfW: 27,895; African Development Bank: 22,946; European Investment Bank: 20,526.
23

Data4Nature
Share to protect
An initiative to encourage thesharing of biodiversity data
generated by development
projects through the GBIF globalnetwork
September 2020

Biodiversity awareness and knowledge sharing: a major goal of the Convention onBiodiversity
The Convention on Biodiversity (CDB), adopted in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit, puts
knowledge and knowledge sharing on biodiversity at the heart of its measures to achieve itsobjectives:●Biodiversity conservation: the designation of protected areas, conservation of species
and natural habitats;●●

Sustainable use of biodiversity;
Access to genetic resources, and fair and equitable sharing of the benefits resulting fromtheir use.

An  opportunity  to  reduce  the  gap  in  biodiversity  data  in  developing  countries  Raw data produced as a result of development banks funding are of great interest. On theone hand, developing countries where development banks operate are home to many
global  biodiversity  “hot  spots”.  On  the  other hand, these countries often lack biodiversityknowledge compared to wealthier countries.
Analysis of published data on the GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) platform
highlights high heterogeneity in the distribution of raw biodiversity data available worldwide.
Beyond any differences that might be observed between developed and developing countries,
there is a significant lack in raw biodiversity data in many African and Asian countries.
A very large part of raw biodiversity data collected and published worldwide relates to the Birds
group. They account for over 91% of all occurrence data. This proportion rises to more than 98%3
if we focus on developing countries.
Conversely, extrapolations made from a sample of AFD studies show that bird sightings accountfor barely 20% of raw biodiversity data produced through development banks funding. Surveys
carried out as part of environmental impact studies relate equally to flora, insects, amphibians,reptiles, birds and even mammals.
Given these opposing trends, public development banks could play a key role in gaining
knowledge about wild animal and plant species distribution in developing countries.
For instance, an analysis of AFD-funded studies shows that, in 2018, they would have led to thepublication of up to 56% of amphibian observations on the GBIF platform, as well as 35% ofgrasshopper and cricket observations, 30% of reptile observations, and even 25% of mammal
observations for all countries in which the agency operates.
A cross-analysis of AFD-funded projects and the number of country-published data by countries
on the GBIF platform allowed the assessment of the relative contribution of raw biodiversity data
produced by these projects. The following table outlines an estimate of this contribution relative
to the region in which AFD was active over the 2015-2019 period.

3

Proportion calculated using the number of taxon occurrences made by human or machine sightings
published on GBIF during the 2015-2019 period for all countries in which AFD is active.

4

Data4Nature
Share to protect
An initiative to encourage thesharing of biodiversity data
generated by development
projects through the GBIF global
network
September 2020

Table 1: Assessment of AFD's relative contribution to GBIF in the event of the transmission of raw
biodiversity data collected from projects funded over the 2015-2019 period.
Regions
Southern Africa
East Africa
North Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
Africa Total

Number ofprojects withimpact
studies
825
2174
128

0.07
1.17
5.04
12.15
0.85

Proportion of data otherthan Bird data produced
through AFD financing
(%)
223.8
157.2
23.4
15.5

Proportion of data
produced through AFD
financing (%)

Central America (only Mexico)South America
AntillesAmerica Total (excluding North America)

215
219

0.03
0,07
1.17
0.07

0.3
1.4
21.5
1.16

Central Asia (only Uzbekistan)
East Asia (only China)West Asia
South Asia
South East Asia
Asia Total

11319181263

4.87
1.91
2.26
0.12
1.39
0.37

60
60.7
127.9
20.4
3639.4

Some  actions  already  undertaken  by  financial  institutions  in  relation  to  data  publication
Private financial institutions have taken the lead in encouraging the sharing of biodiversity dataacquired during impact studies through the   “Equator   Principles”4. Thus, since July 1st, 2020,
financial institutions adhering to  the  “Equator  Principles”  are  committed  to  encourage their clientsto share raw biodiversity data acquired though funded project.
For their part, public development banks are lagging behind in mobilizing biodiversity data
produced by the projects they finance. To date, very few concrete actions have been taken topool and capitalise upon these data.
An AFD study on the integration of biodiversity data produced through development bank funding(Biotope, 2020) shows that, with the support of the GBIF, public development banks could
implement a relatively simple mechanism to encourage raw biodiversity data publication.

The  GBIF,  a  global  data  sharing  infrastructure  and  network  Among the numerous existing mechanisms able to capitalise and disseminate global raw
biodiversity data, the GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) holds a central
position. It clearly appears to be the preferred mechanism for publishing raw biodiversity
data produced through development banks funding.
The GBIF is both an international network and research infrastructure funded by world
governments. Created in 2001 by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD), it aims to provide open access data on all types of life on Earth, to everyone andeverywhere. This access to data is enabled through the international GBIF web platform(www.gbif.org). It offers everyone the opportunity to search, select and download published raw
biodiversity data, at no charge.
The GBIF receives information from many institutions around the world (research laboratories,
public organisations, nature conservation NGOs, natural spaces managers, large privateenterprises, etc.). These organisations rely on the GBIF’s  network of national focal points, which
offer local support to publish their data.

4GBIF, 2019. The Equator Principles encourage open access to environmental impact data through theGBIF network – GBIF News - 3 December 2019 - https://www.gbif.org/

5Data4Nature
Share to protect
An initiative to encourage thesharing of biodiversity data
generated by development
projects through the GBIF globalnetwork
September 2020

The main data publishers involved in the GBIF offer access to their databases through their own
servers through machine-readable Creative Commons licences. The GBIF focal points also offer
data providers the option to host their data on GBIF servers. Thus, the GBIF combines multitudeof databases to share and optimise content. Data publishers, however, remain owners of theirdata and retain control over it.
Zoom to data collected by the GBIFIn September 2020, with nearly 1.6 billion items of observation data on over 1.5 million distinct
species, GBIF is by far the mechanism that gathers the greatest number of global raw
biodiversity data. This knowledge arises from multiple sources (field observations made byprofessional or amateur naturalists, automated recordings, museum collections, etc.).

Figure 3: Distribution of taxon occurrences on the GBIF network (Source: GBIF, 2020)

Adapting  funding  agreements  to  enjoin  environmental  consulting  firms  to  publish  collected  data
In terms of the process for publishing data on the GBIF platform, as well as the resources andprerogatives of each stakeholder involved in the production of raw biodiversity data in studies
financed by development banks, it is clear that the consultants that collect data in the field
are best placed to supply data to GBIF. In addition, these consultants can easily rely on GBIF
to host their data and provide them with technical assistance.
In order to encourage consultants to publish raw biodiversity data on the GBIF platform, which iscollected as part of studies financed by a development bank, the simplest solution is toincorporate a specific clause into the contractors’ funding contracts and/or in the terms ofreference of the studies.
Once they are assigned, consultants undertake to complete all the steps required to publish theirdata on the GBIF platform: this essentially involves formatting collected data so it can be
published!

6

Data4Nature
Share to protect
An initiative to encourage thesharing of biodiversity data
generated by development
projects through the GBIF globalnetwork
September 2020

Figure 4: Suggested solution for publishing raw biodiversity data acquired as a result of financing by publicdevelopment banks

An  inexpensive  and  easy  to  implement  approach
The additional work involved in publishing data mainly relates to data formatting
The amount of additional work and the extra-cost involved in data formatting and publication on
the GBIF have been assessed in a study carried out by AFD. This would involve a moderate
additional cost in terms of consultant services. The additional cost is estimated to be an average
3,300 euros per environmental impact study, which corresponds to less than 0.7% of the average
total cost of a study.
For development banks, the tasks to be carried out are limited to the integration of a new clausein the funding agreement, monitoring the publication of raw biodiversity data, and training andraising awareness of any staff working in these areas (the GBIF offers training materials andcould provide some assistance).

A measure without any specific legal obstacles
There are no significant legal barriers preventing the publication of raw biodiversity data.
However, precautions are necessary and due diligence is required.
First, any raw biodiversity data must always be published with the consent of the data owners.
In general, these owners are both the data producers (usually a consultant) and the institutionthat directly financed the study that made it possible to acquire data (generally the contractor).
The owner’s  agreement can easily be secured through a clause on data publication, which
can be included in the funding agreement and  the  study’s  terms  of  reference.  
As a precaution, it should be verified that publishing data is not incompatible with the public
and private laws that apply in the country in which the data is collected. This task can bedelegated to the contractor and consultant in charge of data collection, again through a data
publishing  clause  that  forms  part  of  the  funding  agreement  and  the  study’s  terms  of  reference.

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C O N TAC T S

GBIF Secretariat in Copenhagen (Danemark)
Email : helpdesk@gbif.org
Phone : +45 35 32 14 70

Email : data4nature@afd.fr

Illustrator : Sébastein Pelon

Agence Française de Développement