The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is an international open data infrastructure, funded by governments. It
allows anyone, anywhere to access data about all types of life on Earth, shared across national boundaries via the Internet.
By encouraging and helping institutions to publish data according to common standards, GBIF enables research not possible
before, and informs better decisions to conserve and sustainably use the biological resources of the planet. GBIF operates
through a network of nodes, coordinating the biodiversity information facilities of Participant countries and organizations,
collaborating with each other and the Secretariat to share skills, experiences and technical capacity. GBIF's vision: "A world
in which biodiversity information is freely and universally available for science, society and a sustainable future." Some
facts about GBIF It provides a single point of access (through this portal and its web services) to hundreds of millions of
records, shared freely by hundreds of institutions worldwide, making it the biggest biodiversity database on the Internet.
The data accessible through GBIF relate to evidence about more than 1.6 million species, collected over three centuries of
natural history exploration and including current observations from citizen scientists, researchers and automated monitoring
programmes More than 1,400 peer-reviewed research publications have cited GBIF as a source of data, in studies spanning the
impacts of climate change, the spread of pests and diseases, priority areas for conservation and food security. About one
such paper is published each day. Many GBIF Participant countries have set up national portals using tools, codes and data
freely available through GBIF to better inform their citizens and policy makers about their own biodiversity.
Citation
Title GBIF Global Biodiversity Information Facility
URL: WoRMS (World Register of Marine Species www.marinespecies.org/), ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information Service, http://www.itis.gov/),
and other partners (http://www.gbif.org/who-we-work-with