Big data for biodiversity: GBIF.org surpasses 1 billion species occurrence records

That’s the milestone that was just achieved by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)

1 billion species occurrence records. That’s the milestone that was just achieved by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), an infrastructure providing anyone, anywhere, with instant access to free and open data about where and when life forms occur on Earth. Naturalists, explorers and scientists have documented life around the world for centuries. Open biodiversity data served through the GBIF network highlights evidence about those species gathered from field expeditions and held in natural history collections around the world, unlocking it through digital access for use by researchers and citizens worldwide. 

GBIF global data portal provides an unequalled evidence base for informing scientific research and policy through its support of ‘big data’ analyses. On average, nearly two peer-reviewed research papers appear each day that rely on data accessed through GBIF.org, for example, to illuminate our planet’s evolutionary history or to generate models that seek to understand the impact of rapidly changing conditions for life on earth. 

The milestone of 1 billion species occurrence records symbolises a major collective achievement, one made possible through the work of the GBIF network, a diverse partnership of more than 1,200 public and private organisations from 117 countries, including Belgium. 

Belgium actively participated in reaching this major achievement. We play an exemplary role in this network when it comes to data publication and data use. We have been an active member of the GBIF network since its inception and we have provided more than 20 millions records, 2% of the billion.. Acting as Belgian GBIF Node, the Belgian Biodiversity Platform coordinates this effort by mobilising and publishing biodiversity data in Belgium. The Belgian Biodiversity Platform cooperates with the federated entities and coordinates the network of 19 institutions. As a result, GBIF open data has been actively used by Belgian scientists to track amongst others, invasive alien species and freshwater biodiversity. 

Dimitri Brosens, Data Acquisition Manager for the Belgian GBIF Node explains why GBIF work is important: "I do believe that GBIF opens numerous new opportunities for research on biodiversity and can play a significant role in saving it." As for André Heughebaert, Belgian GBIF Node, he declared that "This billion milestone clearly demonstrates the maturity of GBIF but the societal challenges ahead require an order of magnitude more relevant and curated data to prevent the 6th extinction of species."

On the same line, Donald Hobern, Executive Secretary of GBIF explained that: “If we want to address the big challenges we face around the future of land use, conservation, climate change, food security and health, we need efficient ways to bring together all the data capable of helping us understand the changing state of the world and the essential role that biodiversity plays at all scales.” He added that “This milestone shows that today’s GBIF is prepared for continued growth and ready to handle the massive volume of data we expect to see from other new technologies and sources, including environmental sequencing and remote sensing.”