Projects
Active Nature Data Lab projects are featured below, organized by three major program areas: (I) Primary Research, (II) Applied Technology, and (III) Earth Economy. Primary Research efforts are further organized by three sub-programs – Ecological Priorities, Nature Mapping, and Conservation Communities.
Conservation Imperatives II: habitats in need of urgent action to prevent near-term extinctions
The follow-on paper from Conservation Imperatives (2024), which identifies 1600 sites (out of 16,000+) harboring rare and threatened species in need of urgent conservation action within the next 5 years.
Iconic Species Index (ISI): a new wildlife-based indicator to support global conservation goals
The Iconic Species Index (ISI) proposes a new indicator to track population trajectories of key vertebrate species, complementing area-based targets under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).
Mapping human modification of the world’s terrestrial ecosystems from 1990 to 2030
Understanding the dynamics of global land use change is essential for locating and prioritizing areas for conservation and restoration, and projecting future human pressure on landscapes and rural communities.
Ecoregions 2026: mapping the conservation status of the world's 825 ecoregions
A global team is developing a third major update to the Ecoregions, the world's most widely used global biogeographical framework, provided important clarifications in the MENA and Southeast Asia regions. The paper examines the current state of land degradation by ecoregion and maps their conservation status.
AI & Advanced Technology for Conservation (IUCN working group)
The AI & Advanced Technology working group will explore a wide range of solutions to support conservation practitioners, land use planners, and nature funders to scale the quantity and effectiveness of protected and conserved areas, in the lead up to the 2027 IUCN World Congress on Protected & Conserved Areas to be held in Panama.
Conservation Status Index (CSI): tracking progress towards Target 3 of the UN Global Biodiversity Framework
Currently, there is no globally consistent methodology for indexing jurisdictions annually based on the extent and conservation status of their natural lands and waters. This paper uses multidimensional scaling to explore correlations between existing indexes, and proposes a novel methodology.
DCAs: documenting the full extent of local community and private conservation areas
Documented Conservation Areas (DCAs) have never been fully mapped. We are building the largest database of community-led projects, private lands, and other conservation areas not yet recognized by national governments.
Global Safety Net v3 (GSN3): a central data platform for the nature conservation agenda
GSN3 is NDL's ongoing mapping and analysis project, providing the only annual accounting of natural lands and inland waters globally, classified by ecological function and land cover type, and the extent to which they are protected or conserved.
ReGDP: integrating natural capital into sovereign balance sheets
Rising 'GDP per capita' has become the universal measure of economic progress, but often this growth comes at the expense of ecosystem degradation. A group of economists proposes a new way forward – to enhance the GDP metric by incorporating the value of a nation's natural capital.
Building the restoration workforce in North America
The restoration economy in the U.S. and Canada is worth $30B, employing 300,000 people, but it is only in its infancy. A new study finds 100 million acres of restoration potential, which could 10x the sector over the next decade.
Internal Nature Pricing: overcoming the challenges of corporate natural capital accounting
The concept of 'internal carbon pricing' transformed the climate finance sector. Could 'internal nature pricing' do the same for the nature finance sector? This white paper explores various approaches to attributing natural capital dependencies by corporate sector.