Support

UNBL highlights data related to biodiversity, protected areas, threats to biodiversity, land cover, carbon and climate change, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Biodiversity data types include ecological land use, biodiversity hotspots and Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs), species distribution aggregations, and recently released data on forest cover and connectivity from NASA-funded research. Protected Area data are provided by the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA). Data on threats to biodiversity and human impacts include the human footprint, mining, and land use change. Information related to the SDGs includes data on, poverty and childhood mortality, water supply and catchment information for over 500 cities globally, above- and below-ground carbon stocks, and others. See here for a full list of data available on UNBL.

UNDP, UNEP, and UNEP-WCMC have adopted criteria to assist in identifying and curating the best available data layers on these themes in order to enable more streamlined and standardised analyses and reporting. These selection criteria place data into one of three tiers, and consider aspects like data relevance, open-licensing and availability, transparency, and geographic coverage. This tiered system is intended solely to assist in the development and implementation of global datasets that are fit-for-purpose in supporting progress toward the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, the emerging targets of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework and related global targets.

The criteria can be viewed here.

Disclaimer: The datasets on UNBL and other UN-level platforms have not yet been formally assessed against these criteria. An initial pilot assessment is underway.

We are always looking to improve our data. If you are experiencing issues with a dataset or believe it is outdated or inaccurate, please contact our support team at support@unbiodiversitylab.org.

UNBL is a web application which is compliant with following standards:

• Fully documented using Open API 3.0 spec (formally swagger)
• All available via an HTTP RESTful API
• All security interfaces created oAuth 2.0 and JWT tokens

A:  UN Biodiversity Lab. (year).  https://unbiodiversitylab.org/. Accessed DD/MM/YY. DOI: 10.34892/95Q9-MP91

Please note that for any maps you create on the platform, you need to cite the data providers following the format indicated in the FAQ section on maps. This is a requirement for use of many datasets, and is a standard good practice.

There is no limit to the number of data layers that can be turned on and displayed on UNBL simultaneously. However, as you load more data layers you may find it difficult to see all of them simultaneously and may need to adjust their opacity. See our user guide for more information on how to style the data layers you have loaded.

Usually spatial datasets contain both spatial and attribute data. Spatial data pinpoints where something is located on the planet in an absolute sense. It is generally presented as geographic coordinates or an address. Attribute data is information attached to a specific coordinate that is not directly geospatial, for example the name of the structure or type of object. UNBL displays spatial data with one attribute per data layer.

Standard metrics and analysis are provided for a number of key global datasets on UNBL and calculated for all of the provided countries and jurisdictions globally, as well as custom places created by users in their UNBL workspaces. On-the-fly analyses and custom metric creation are currently under development.

Load the widgets or layers for which you would like to create a map, and take a screenshot!

Maps included in reports should meet several different standards.

• Maps should be clear and concise.
• Important text on maps should be clear and legible (e.g., cities, place names, legend items, etc.).
• The map should include basic mapping elements: legend (of relevant data layers) and scale bar.
• The map should be displayed with the correct citation (see below).

We recommend this format:Title [Format]. Data. Date. Scale. Name of Person Who Generated Map. Map Generated by UNBL. URL. (Date Accessed).

Example: Mangrove Forest Soil Organic Carbon [PDF]. Sanderman et al. 2018. 1:25,000. Generated by James Bond. Map Generated by UNBL. https://map.unbiodiversitylab.org/earth?basemap=grayscale&coordinates=20,0,2&layers=global-mangrove-soil-carbon-01 . (19 June 2021).

Try reducing the number of applications that are running on your computer or closing the number of tabs open in your browser.