Global Ecosystems Atlas

Protecting biodiversity and ecosystem integrity is crucial for human survival, providing essential services like food, water, and climate regulation. The Convention on Biological Diversity’s Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) commits to halting nature loss by 2030, but success depends on quality ecosystem information. While frameworks exist for monitoring and reporting ecosystem health, significant knowledge gaps remain—55% of the world’s ecosystem types lack distribution data, and only 14% of terrestrial ecosystems are comprehensively monitored. Existing data on the world’s ecosystems is inconsistent, incomplete, or fragmented. 

Historically, ecosystems have been classified in varied ways, resulting in discrepancies in international monitoring, reporting, and verification. While nations may develop and utilize their national ecosystem maps and classifications, achieving international comparability requires a unified, common reference classification. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a trusted global map linked to a common classification reference, harmonizing definitions, standards, and approaches to facilitate effective conservation and restoration efforts worldwide.

The Global Ecosystems Atlas (“the Atlas”) initiative will create a trusted common resource for mapping and monitoring the world’s ecosystems to facilitate consistent and coherent monitoring, reporting, and verification of conservation, sustainable management and restoration goals, and natural capital accounting at the national, regional, and global levels, and across companies’ value chains and investors’ portfolios. At its foundation, the Atlas is an innovative geospatial data product. It combines existing national and global ecosystem distribution data with resources to support countries in creating new ecosystem maps where none currently exist. By engaging with an international community of experts, the Atlas provides tools and guidance to enhance and harmonize mapping efforts and promote informed decision-making for countries.

The Atlas will:

All ecosystem information in the Atlas will be harmonized according to the 110 Ecosystem Functional Groups outlined in the Global Ecosystem Typology (GET). The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s GET has been recognized by the UN Statistical Commission as an international statistical classification, including its application in the System for Environmental Economic Accounting—Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA) framework, and has been recommended as the foundation for ecosystem indicators under the GBF. Additionally, the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) has incorporated the IUCN GET into its guidance for identifying and assessing nature-related issues. This standardized and harmonized classification system facilitates global comparisons across countries and the private sector.

The Atlas is designed to enable intelligent conservation and restoration practices by equipping governments, businesses, and other stakeholders with actionable data and tools. This supports decision-making on national targets and commitments, effective land use and spatial planning, sustainable investments, and corporate sustainability reporting. By fostering data-driven solutions, the Atlas empowers users to strategically target conservation and restoration efforts and sustainably manage ecosystems.

A particular focus is on supporting medium- and low-income countries, many of which face capacity constraints. By providing essential tools to map, monitor, and manage ecosystems, the Atlas helps these countries to implement their biodiversity strategies, monitor progress, and contribute meaningfully to global targets under the GBF and other multilateral environmental agreements.

Ultimately, the Atlas contributes to maintaining and enhancing critical ecosystem services, such as clean water, climate regulation, and land productivity, which are vital for climate adaptation, food and water security, and safeguarding lives and livelihoods. By informing intelligent evidence-based practices, it sustains biodiversity and ecosystems while fostering resilience and improving quality of life globally.

The key outcome of Phase 1 of the Atlas project (2025–2026) is enhanced knowledge of the spatial distribution of the world’s ecosystems. This will be achieved by undertaking several key activities, which will result in the creation of a Global Ecosystems Atlas synthesis map by the end of 2026. Between 2026 and 2030, the Atlas will continue to be refined and updated, and the goal by 2030 is to provide information about the change in ecosystem extent, condition, and risk globally.

We work with a project team comprising a project manager, science lead, country engagement specialist, business engagement specialist, team assistant, etc. The Atlas initiative has an established governance comprising a Steering Board and a Scientific and Technical Committee. Other working groups may be created on an ad hoc basis to address specific workstreams of the Atlas implementation.