Spatial data and mapping

Protected area boundaries (WDPA)

Data

Download WDPA boundaries as the baseline layer for any protected area gap analysis

MPA protection levels

Data

Check whether an MPA actually protects anything, since designation and protection level differ sharply

Marine managed-area regulations

Data

Look up what a marine managed area legally prohibits, not just where its boundary sits

Protected-area downgrading events

Data

Document a protected area being downgraded or degazetted, evidence advocacy rarely has ready

Forest and ecosystem change monitoring. Renamed from Global Forest Watch, so search both names

DataGlobal

Set deforestation alerts for your site, and search Global Forest Watch for older citations

Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool

Data

Screen a project footprint against Red List, KBA and protected area layers in one request

Spatial layers for policy

Data

Pull policy-ready spatial layers when a government partner needs a map rather than a dataset

UNEP data portal

Data

Note that it reads as coming soon, so plan UNEP data access another way for now

10 m near-real-time land cover

Data

Get 10 meter land cover in near real time when annual products are too coarse temporally

30 m global land cover

DataGlobal

Find a mirror for 30 meter global land cover, because the original host is unreachable

Climate surfaces

Data

Download the climate surfaces almost every distribution model on this page expects as input

USGS imagery

Data

Order historic aerial photography to show what a site looked like decades before your baseline

High-resolution tropics imagery

Data

Confirm the tropical imagery program still covers you, since the page now redirects into sales

TNC spatial layers

Data

Borrow finished conservation map layers instead of rebuilding equivalents from raw data

TNC methods and data

Data

Read the method behind a TNC approach before adopting it, including what did not work

US conservation priority mapping

DataUS

Treat these US priority layers as unavailable and source them from state natural heritage programs

Conservation datasets and workspaces

Data

Share a working map with collaborators who have no GIS software installed

US conservation easements

DataUS

Use it for historic easement records, but note that updates stopped in January 2025

Environmental justice conflict map

Data

Find whether a community conflict already surrounds your site before proposing a project there

Commodity supply-chain deforestation links

Data

Trace a commodity back to the places it deforests, which names the companies accountable

Biosphere atlas app

Data

Note that it now sells corporate nature intelligence, so treat the atlas as a commercial product

Reef survey imagery

Data

Compare your reef survey imagery against an open baseline collected across many countries

Ecological footprint accounts

Data

Pull national footprint accounts when a proposal needs a consumption figure rather than a species one

Live surface weather

Data

Grab live surface weather for a field site, noting the service sunsets in December 2026