Half-Earth Project Map
If we are going to save species from extinction, we need a comprehensive atlas that maps Earth’s biodiversity and is accessible to everyone. Only then will we be able to make complex decisions about how to best preserve nature for all life.
The E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation’s objective is to map the location and distribution of the planet’s species at a high enough resolution to allow for on-the-ground decisions to be made at a local level. Together with our partners, we have developed the Half-Earth Project Map, a high-resolution, dynamic world map and decision-support tool that guides where place-based species conservation activities are needed the most to protect Earth’s species, including our own.
The map visualizes a global assessment of biodiversity richness and rarity at a 1–50 km scale for all terrestrial and marine vertebrates and at 1km to country scale for hundreds of thousands of invertebrate and plant species. No other open-access tool contains this resolution of global species data.
“The Half-Earth Project map is becoming a powerful tool for discovery as it combines the best of our mapping technology and global biodiversity data to help us chart a new path forward for the planet.”
Designed for a wide variety of users, the map is easy to read and navigate and can be accessed by anyone in any community. Coupled with data showing human pressures, irrecoverable carbon, and existing protected areas, the map reveals priority areas for conservation.
The Species Protection Index (SPI) measures the amount and location of currently protected land in a country and the number and location of species found both inside and outside of these protected areas. SPI ranges from 0–100, with 100 reflecting a country practicing good stewardship and promoting equitable conservation efforts within its borders. SPI is an important Essential Biodiversity Variable, an indicator for success that can be used to determine how a country is doing in any given area regarding global biodiversity stewardship and identify where additional attention is needed.
National Report Cards summarize a country’s conservation efforts. They can be used to explore conservation progress, needs, and challenges specific to each country and can help prioritize support and resources accordingly.
Species are the key biological drivers of the diverse ecological functions that sustain our planet. Representing this ecological diversity within systems of protected and conserved areas is therefore central to the overarching ambition of the Global Biodiversity Framework and the outcome sought by its Target 3 to protect 30% of land, waters, and sea.
The Species Protection Report addresses the state of species protection in 2024. It reports on the progress of regions and countries in the adequate representation of species within networks of protected and conserved areas. These trends are measured through the Species Protection Index (SPI), the only formally adopted indicator for Target 3 that directly and quantitatively addresses the importance protected areas play for conserving species. For any region, and based on tens of thousands of detailed spatial species data, the index measures how well existing conservation areas include areas of biodiversity importance and contribute to species survival and ecological representation.
The Species Protection Report is a collaborative effort of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation’s Half-Earth Project, the Map of Life (MOL), the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON), and Esri.
The Half-Earth Project Map is led by the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation in collaboration with Vizzuality, Map of Life, and Esri, with funding support from Esri, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Burt’s Bees Foundation, and Jeff and Laurie Ubben.
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