GBIF Work Programme 2025 Annual Update and Implementation Plan to the Strategic Framework 2023–2027

Knowledge gaps are reduced by consolidating data coverage across the thematic areas of relevance

GBIF’s relevance to research is enhanced, through increased recognition and uptake of GBIF mediated data among researchers across additional scientific disciplines

Complete and coordinate publication of the peer-reviewed systematic review of GBIF-enabled research to identify usage trends in 2020–2024 to help prioritize outreach to thematic communities

Coordinate preparation and publication of a collection of peer-reviewed papers describing key elements of the GBIF network and infrastructure

Engage high-priority thematic communities based on recommendations from the Science Committee and establish new consultations with subject experts, data holders, data users and other communities on key topics, including agrobiodiversity, biodiversity loss and marine biodiversity (in collaboration with Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS))

Cultivate and support discussions, knowledge exchange and engagement with and within thematic communities, both existing and new; ensure continued flows of data and up-to-date guidance; explore options for wider thematic reporting and discoverability, including on data gaps and biases

Consolidate data flows relating to vectors of human diseases through the Vector Atlas project, EFSA’s One Health / VectorNet collaboration; and updates of VectorBase while implementing recommendations from the the GBIF task group on vectors of human diseases

Explore the usability and accessibility of the GBIF infrastructure for researchers, initiate discussion with all communities and provide recommendations for improvements to tools and processes

GBIF supports the evolution of fundamental data-driven biodiversity research and its application across methods, scales and disciplines in life and environmental sciences

Complete prototype digital twins dependent on and coordinated by GBIF through partnership on BioDT report and disseminate lessons learned

Continue engagement and showcase representation of sampling-event data through GBIF; scale up data flows from ecological research, survey and monitoring data communities; improve and expand interoperability with partner infrastructures; and run workshops that broaden data publishing models and produce example datasets

Run a data republication campaign to convert existing occurrence datasets and increase its value through use of the Humboldt Extension for Ecological Inventories; develop tools and strategies for encouraging holders of survey and monitoring datasets not yet in GBIF to share them

Contribute to development and updating of documentation, templates and training materials for publishing and accessing survey and monitoring data through GBIF

Knowledge gaps are reduced by consolidating data coverage across the thematic areas of relevance GBIF’s relevance to research is enhanced, through increased recognition and uptake of GBIF-mediated data among researchers across additional scientific disciplines

Continue engagement and improve coverage and quality of data representation in GBIF from metabarcoding research and eDNA monitoring, expand interoperability with partner infrastructures

Improve and update guidance materials for data publishing and accessing DNA-derived data through GBIF

Strengthen collaborations with DNA barcoding communities and reference sequence libraries, including those that use operational taxonomic units (OTU)

Lead experiment towards an index of marker gene sequences including DNA barcodes and amplicon sequence variants (ASVs)

Analyse feasibility of a standard format for DNA-reference datasets that credits citations to contributors and publishers

GBIF national participation is expanded across currently under-represented regions, G20 economies and megadiverse countries

Current Associate Participants have agreed pathways towards achieving or returning to voting participation

GBIF is recognized as a key implementation partner for biodiversity-related projects supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF)

Engage GBIF Heads of Delegation (HoDs) through joint outreach and activities at both GBIF events and international fora, including Datos Vivos/Living Data 2025 conference and the G20 Research Innovation Working Group

Update Engagement Strategy to deliver expanded and coordinated approach to consolidating and retaining Voting Participation and to advance regional engagement

Increase engagement with UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) regional and subregional support centres to collaborate and support shared technical and capacity-building objectives linked to regional strategies

Consolidate GBIFs position as a knowledge implementation partner within the Global Environment Facility programming

Establish formal partnerships with key GEF implementing agencies to capture funding opportunities to strengthen national support and support for GBIF programmes (e.g. Biodiversity Information for Development (BID))

GBIF-mediated data is consistently and transparently applied and cited across multiple indicators used to monitor progress towards the goals and targets agreed through the CBD and integrated into national platforms and reporting processes

GBIF’s value in supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is recognized and reinforced through strategic partnerships with relevant international organizations focused on climate change, food security, human health and well-being, and both terrestrial and marine biodiversity such as the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)

Develop partnerships with key indicator providers to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) to facilitate the flow of GBIF-mediated data in those indicators, including national reporting processes, and explore the development of the GBIF-owned indicators on data gaps

Develop, implement, review and finalize partnership agreements with key data partners including GEO BON (Group on Earth Observation Biodiversity Observation Network), International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and OBIS

Working across the GBIF network, develop use cases for relevant multilateral environmental agreements including the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, CITES and the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS)

Develop data cube use cases through the the EU-funded project, Biodiversity Building Blocks for Policy (B-Cubed)

Engage with the IPBES data and knowledge task force

Lending agreements prepared by private agencies, financial institutions and public development banks include clear and unequivocal requirements for sharing biodiversity data

Private companies, trade associations and consultancies in all global regions recognize GBIF as the preferred platform to share primary biodiversity data gathered through impact assessments and monitoring

Develop the Data4Nature initiative, including formation of multilateral development bank (MDB) working group, governance and funding model, capacity building framework and exploration of the use of hosted portals within the initiative

The GBIF network, its audiences and its wider communities of practice are equipped with robust evidence that demonstrates its value and relevance to science, policy and society

Complete update to the GBIF Communications Strategy, revising and revisiting key audiences and messages to account for changes and advances since its publication in 2015

Develop simple, clear messaging that highlights GBIF’s role as a data infrastructure and network supporting open data, open science and policymaking, along with materials, use cases and concrete examples for global, national and thematic communities

Consolidate social media strategy, aligning it with values described in the GBIF strategic framework

Promote the second series of animated videos on priority thematic areas of relevance through social media campaigns and continue to refresh thematic content for both new and existing communities

Support and promote GBIF collaborations with OBIS, GEO BON and TDWG at the Datos Vivos/Living Data 2025 Conference aligned with GB32 in Colombia

Plan and prepare processes for following up from the first GBIF ESG/sustainability baseline report (see WP24 §2.2)

Develop approach for national reporting on the annual value of volunteers to the GBIF network, possibly in connection with an update of the annual country reports

Communicate how the GBIF Strategic Framework is taking on the role of the alliance for biodiversity knowledge

GBIF nodes provide a strong and stable foundation for data mobilization and use through the network

The role of GBIF nodes as hubs for data mobilization and use is better understood and supported, especially at national level

Organize the second Node Awards programme, building on lessons learned from its first year

Working with the NSG, scope a series of engagement and training events for nodes within the context of the Global Nodes Meeting and Training, GB32 and Datos Vivos/Living Data 2025 conference

Organize an in-person knowledge exchange meeting for all members of the regional support teams alongside the Global Nodes Meeting to align their services to the work of the national nodes and GBIF Secretariat

Support the work of a task group on Indigenous data governance (see also §4.3), including an in-person event alongside the Global Nodes Meeting and Training to facilitate discussion with the nodes

Develop additional modules for the node development curriculum, based on consultation with the nodes community

Roll out an updated capacity self-assessment tool for nodes based on review in 2024

Request community feedback to inform updates to the nodes guidance documents

Support participation by the nodes community in piloting tools and processes that emerge from the work on the new data model

Following the regional engagement meeting held in 2024, organize a virtual course on GBIF formal Participation and establishing participant nodes for the Arab States

GBIF’s ongoing capacity support programmes are successfully concluded, and new support programmes are scoped

Additional training and guidance resources are available to the community in multiple languages covering both data mobilization and data use

Launch calls for project proposals for the BID programme in the target regions, including (at minimum) Africa, Pacific and Caribbean

Maintain and consolidate the existing regional support teams to complement the work of nodes

Develop and implement induction plan for new members of the BID regional support teams, ensuring the overall coordination and alignment of their work with GBIF Strategic framework and Nodes implementation plan

In alignment with regional priorities and the BID programme objectives, update and translate materials within GBIF training courses

Monitor the implementation of the new format developed for the GBIF Capacity Enhancement Support Programme (CESP) in 2024 and collate and document best practices for CESP call in 2025

Explore the use of capacity self-assessments in tracking progress across all levels (individual, institutional, national and regional) of the capacity development framework

GBIF-maintained software and informatics infrastructure provides high, ongoing levels of availability and performance that keep pace with growth in data publication and use

Complete the adoption of ChecklistBank as part of the core GBIF services for indexing checklist datasets, with updated public GBIF APIs and documentation

Target audiences and user groups who may benefit from using ChecklistBank’s tools and services for taxonomic data

Maintain deployments of hosted portals and hosted data repositories (IPTs)

Maintain GBIF R (rgbif) and Python (pygbif) libraries to follow changes in GBIF public interfaces and support outcomes, including eDNA engagement activities, sampling-event data and data cube capabilities to support the B-Cubed project

Mature deployment and operation of software on the Kubernetes technology platform

The expanding GBIF community of users are fully supported by a responsive help desk team and improved technical documentation

The taxonomic and collections communities benefit from improvements in GBIF support to the Global Registry of Scientific Collections (GRSciColl) and the Catalogue of Life

Mature processes around the ticketing system to managing help desk requests, broadening to train and include regional and thematic contractors

Phase out the global use of the GBIF backbone taxonomy and replace it with the Catalogue of Life, providing support for migrating identifiers

Provide guidelines for publishing taxonomic checklists through GBIF to contribute towards improvement of the Catalogue of Life

Explore opportunities to connect with emerging systems that publish Digital Extended specimen data

Support content curation on GRSciColl, coordinate editor and user communities, and improve data processes as outlined in the current GRSciColl roadmap

Expand the newly established technical documentation site with clearer guidelines relating to data quality, data-publishing processes and data formatting, including those related to the use of controlled vocabularies

Improved user interface to GBIF.org

Improved capabilities for GBIF to handle ecological, collections, paleontological and phylogenetic data

Data reuse increased through more stable GBIF identifiers

Release new versions of GBIF.org and hosted portal software that provide equivalent functionality and use the same software stack

Collect and address feedback from the open pilot phase of the eDNA Publishing Tool to prepare it for wider use

Explore feasibility of enabling services to search for occurrences within eDNA datasets using sequences and taxa to which the sequence aligns (see also §1.3)

Explore the collaborative development of a tool to publish phylogenetic trees with associated information, such as the material and related sequences

Advance capabilities for event-based search, based on prototype co-developed with the Atlas of Living Australia, and explore support for the Humboldt Extension for Ecological Inventories (see also §1.2 and §4.4)

Start improving the representation of marine data in GBIF.org as outlined in the OBIS-GBIF 2024 Joint Action Plan for Marine Biodiversity Data

Improve ability for users to filter data based on categories of dataset origins, including citizen science, eDNA and the business sector (see also §2.3)

Document recommendations for completing metadata and using stable identifiers for individuals (e.g. ORCID iDs), organizations (e.g. ROR IDs) and funders (e.g. OFR IDs), and index fields to enable aggregate views (see also §1.1)

Explore implementation of outcomes from the task group on Indigenous data governance, which may involve adopting Local Context labels or alternative options at suitable levels within the GBIF infrastructure as the task group develops and clarifies its recommendations (see also §3.2)

Improve data quality by

Explore alternative platforms and methods for integrating and managing information from literature tracking

The revised GBIF data model is matured and applicable for use

All controlled terms used in GBIF processing are managed in the vocabulary server

Mature publishing model(s) for use, start preparing technical and user documentation, and release an initial update to the Darwin Core Archive data format that satisfies case studies relating to Materials, Interactions, and Surveys and Monitoring (see also §1.2 and §4.3).

Establish a TDWG task group under the Darwin Core Maintenance Group, proposing the addition of high-level, habitat-relevant terms (Realm, Biome) and associated controlled vocabularies

Continue to accommodate newly interested communities as part of the data model investigation

Continue to mature the unified data model and prepare it as a candidate standard within Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG)

Complete data-processing changes required to ensure all vocabularies are read from the vocabulary server

Support the work of vocabulary contributors and lead further vocabulary development