JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE
JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE
eConservation
Welcome to eConservation 1.0, an application of the Digital Observatory for Protected Areas (DOPA) developed by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. eConservation provides critical information on funding from public donors worldwide to support biodiversity conservation. The aim is to better understand who is funding what and where, with a view to improve decision-making on biodiversity conservation.
Features
Main Map
The main page is designed to aid users in the exploration and selection of datasets. On the right side of the map you will find a section in which you can turn on and off the layers, query the results by clicking on each component of the legend, and also search for a specific feature or location. The datasets are gradually introduced using a progressive disclosure and split into three key elements: project sites, countries and protected area statistics.
Country Dashboard
Each country dashboard summarizes statistics related to different aspects of biodiversity conservation projects including location, objectives, timeframe, budget, and the organizations involved. On the right side of the map you will find a set of charts and statistics that provide full interaction with the map in a way that you can customise the dashboard based on your needs.
Conservation
The Conservation section provides global statistics focused on the world’s protected areas. In this section you can analyse the connection between conservation projects and protected areas in terms of funding and action types.
About
eConservation 1.0 provides simple means to explorer biodiversity conservation projects funded by the European Union and other big public donors worldwide. The aim is to better understand who is funding what and where, with a view to improve decision-making on biodiversity conservation. Projects can be searched based on many criteria including their location, donor, timeframe and budget. eConservation also provides summary statistics at the level of donors, countries, ecoregions and protected areas.
Version: 1.0
Release: October 2021
Requirements: eConservation 1.0 is optimized for Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.
Terms of use: eConservation 1.0 cannot be used for commercial purposes.
Citation: Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (year), eConservation [On-line], [insert month/year of the version accessed], Ispra, Italy. Available at: http://econservation.jrc.ec.europa.eu
Protected Areas: Unless indicated otherwise (see figure captions), the boundaries of the protected areas used here are coming from UNEP-WCMC and IUCN (2021), Protected Planet: The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) [On-line], [October/2021] , Cambridge, UK: UNEP-WCMC and IUCN. Available at: www.protectedplanet.net. Protected Planet®, underpinned by the WDPA, is a joint product of UN Environment and IUCN, managed by UNEP-WCMC and IUCN working with governments, communities and collaborating partners.
Funding: The development and maintenance of the DOPA (Explorer 4.1 and eConservation) are supported mainly by the institutional activities of the Directorate for Sustainable Resources at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission as well as by the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management (BIOPAMA) programme, an initiative of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States financed by the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) of the European Union.
Feedback: Any communication with respect to the use of eConservation should be sent to EC-DL-DOPA@ec.europa.eu
Acknowledgements: We greatly acknowledge the contributions from the past and present trainees who helped design and enrich eConservation, in particular Bowy den Braber, Orphé Bichet, Eduardo Garcia Bendito and Manon Mispiratceguy
Core Team: Luca Battistella, Krasimira Ganisheva, Bastian Bertzky, Gregoire Dubois
Data & Sources
The eConservation database currently includes data on biodiversity related projects funded by major public donors such as the European Union (EU), Global Environment Facility (GEF) and The World Bank
European Commission: The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union (EU). The Commission’s Directorate-General for Environment (DG ENV) is responsible for EU policy on the environment and manages the LIFE Programme, since 1992 the EU’s funding instrument for the environment, which provides co-financing for projects with European added value, including for the Natura 2000 network of protected areas. The Commission's Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA), also known as EuropeAid, is responsible for designing European international cooperation and development policy and delivering aid throughout the world. The new flagship initiative EU Biodiversity for Life (B4Life) has been developed to help the poorest countries protect ecosystems, combat wildlife crime and develop green economies. The eConservation database seeks to include all biodiversity-related projects of the LIFE Programme, BEST Initiative (EU Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in Overseas Countries and Territories), and EuropeAid.
The Global Environment Facility: The Global Environment Facility, was established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to help tackle our planet's most pressing environmental problems. The GEF unites 184 countries in partnership with international institutions, civil society organizations, and the private sector to address global environmental issues supporting national sustainable development initiatives. The eConservation database seeks to include all biodiversity-related GEF projects.
The World Bank: The World Bank, founded in 1944, is a multilateral organization providing financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world, and one of the major funders of biodiversity and sustainable natural resources management projects. It is made up of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA). The eConservation database seeks to include all biodiversity-related World Bank projects.
The current data covers all the projects for the period 2011-2018 for BEST Initiative, 1992-2020 for LIFE Programme and 1987-2017 for the World Bank and covers partially the projects for the period 1996-2016 for Europe Aid and 1991-2014 for the GEF. Further efforts might target the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) and other key multilateral and bilateral agencies.
eConservation APIs
You can retrieve country level information available in this portal using the following api: