From Data to Decision: Collecting, Mobilizing, and Harmonizing Tropical Andes Observatory Data for Improved Conservation Planning

Effective and timely conservation and sustainable development policy relies on high quality biodiversity information. Yet the capacity to generate, integrate and deliver this information in user-friendly formats is a particular challenge in biodiversity hotspots such as the Tropical Andes. Existing efforts suffer from taxonomic, spatial and temporal biases and inadequate integration, and often remain within the academic context thereby limiting their access and utility to policymakers. Recent advances in biodiversity informatics, communication tools and observation network design, combined with petabytes of satellite information, offer a unique opportunity to improve efficiency and impact of biodiversity observatories in the region. The challenge is to harness these advances through the establishment of a network of harmonized, efficient national observatories that can not only improve change detection capacity, but also inform effective conservation and policy. We propose to address this challenge through the applied integration of:

• Biodiversity Observation Network design approaches developed by GEO BON
• State of the art data collection & management systems promoted by GBIF and iNaturalist
• NatureServe data analytics and visualization capacity for powerful, and userfriendly Biodiversity indicators

By developing a sustained, userdriven, locallyoperated, harmonized and scalable regional BON in the Tropical Andes, connecting data to decisions, we will achieve the following concrete outputs:

• Early warning and surveillance systems employing state of the art predictive models that can inform prevention, detection and mitigation of threats (e.g. invasive species, emerging zoonoses) to human wellbeing and local and regional economies
• Sustained regional biodiversity observation capacity, built on existing data and efforts, combined with advanced data management and analytics systems from global partners, that will improve the discoverability, access and utility of information
• A Biodiversity Indicators’ Dashboard for the Tropical Andes allowing continual visualization of biodiversity indicators to support nations’ ability to achieve and track domestic and international conservation targets and sustainable development goals.