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OBIS takeaway messages for UNOC3
Photo: Michele Roux / The Ocean Image Bank
With a community of over 6,000 contributors and more than a million new records added each month, the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS) is at the forefront of global efforts to monitor marine life. Using cutting-edge tools like environmental DNA and advanced models, the OBIS Community delivers trusted, ready-to-use biodiversity data to support critical conservation goals and evidence-based decisions. At UNOC3, OBIS highlights three key areas to support and advance global ocean action:
Providing trusted data for ocean action
Reliable marine biodiversity data is an essential source for evidence-based conservation action. As the world’s most comprehensive open-access platform for marine life data, OBIS delivers robust, FAIR, transparent, standardized, interoperable, quality-controlled and ready-to-use datasets that directly support conservation, policy, and scientific action.
Transforming local data holders into global contributors
Increasing local data contributions to OBIS is critical for improving our global Ocean knowledge. The OBIS Community continuously engages with local, national, and regional communities worldwide through workshops and support sessions to build the skill sets that will transform local data holders into global contributors.
Mobilizing cutting-edge technologies for a radical impact
OBIS mobilizes cutting-edge technologies like environmental DNA and predictive models to maximize marine biodiversity data’s reach, relevance, and impact. Environmental DNA has the potential to profoundly transform marine biodiversity monitoring by increasing the scale, frequency, and geographic reach of observations. It can empower Small Island Developing States and low- and middle-income countries to conduct cost-effective, scalable monitoring, enhancing their ability to monitor and mitigate marine biorisks such as invasive pest species. OBIS utilises advanced models to develop high-resolution decision-support tools, making complex data more accessible and easier to interpret and apply for conservation actions.
