Download the dataset: here

The dataset use freely available data layers in combination to develop a new global layer that identifies natural and modified habitat. It is aligned with the definitions of natural and modified habitat from the highly influential Performance Standard 6 (PS6) of the International Finance Corporation (IFC). However, we pr opose this layer as an output that can be used beyond the IFC and could be integrated into the investment decision making of global and regional banks, or the decision making of international corporations.

A global layer of habitat state, which is aligned with the definitions of Natural and Modified Habitats according to IFC PS6, can be used by businesses in the early stages of project development, by highlighting areas of potential or likely Natural and Modified Habitat. It can be used at a landscape scale, due to the resolution and precision of the underlying data. It does not remove the need for more detailed ground surveys at a site level, but provides an overview of the state of habitat in the surrounding area.

Although the IFC PS6 definition of Natural and Modified Habitat is based on ecological functions and species composition, suitable data on this is not available globally. For this reason, data on human pressure and habitat is used as a proxy for the loss and intactness of ecological functions and species composition. It is important to note that this screening layer may overestimate the amount of remaining Natural Habitat for two reasons. The first is that we took a precautionary approach when designating pixels a Natural or Modified value. Where there was disagreement between a Natural and Modified dataset for a given pixel, the precautionary approach was to designate it as a Natural pixel (depending on whether the datasets were classified as likely or potential).

The second is that not all aspects of human modification could be included because of data limitations. A prime example is hunting, which is a major cause of biodiversity loss (Maxwell et al., 2016) and therefore has large impacts on the ecological function and species composition of habitats, but there is no data available globally. The buffers we used around roads are a good proxy for hunting in some habitats, such as forests, but the impacts of hunting will vary based on terrain and may extend further in non-forested areas (Wu et al., 2017). In addition, as the Human Footprint Layer is a pressure map that includes the indirect effects of access in to natural areas, it does have a relationship with human pressures such as hunting and the introduction of invasive species (Venter et al., 2016).

Of the areas classified as likely or potential Natural in our screening layer, some areas may not be intact in terms of ecological function and species composition due to hunting and other anthropogenic pressures for which data are not available. For example, two thirds of Intact Forest Landscapes overlap with an area where a species has gone extinct in the past 500 years (Plumptre et al., 2019). And around 9% of tropical Intact Forest Landscapes and 11% of tropical Wilderness areas have lost at least 10% of their mammal abundance due to hunting (Benítez-López et al., 2019). When only considering large-bodied mammal assemblages, these figures go up to over 50% (Benítez-López et al., 2019).

Download the dataset: here

The dataset use freely available data layers in combination to develop a new global layer that identifies natural and modified habitat. It is aligned with the definitions of natural and modified habitat from the highly influential Performance Standard 6 (PS6) of the International Finance Corporation (IFC). However, we pr opose this layer as an output that can be used beyond the IFC and could be integrated into the investment decision making of global and regional banks, or the decision making of international corporations.

A global layer of habitat state, which is aligned with the definitions of Natural and Modified Habitats according to IFC PS6, can be used by businesses in the early stages of project development, by highlighting areas of potential or likely Natural and Modified Habitat. It can be used at a landscape scale, due to the resolution and precision of the underlying data. It does not remove the need for more detailed ground surveys at a site level, but provides an overview of the state of habitat in the surrounding area.

Although the IFC PS6 definition of Natural and Modified Habitat is based on ecological functions and species composition, suitable data on this is not available globally. For this reason, data on human pressure and habitat is used as a proxy for the loss and intactness of ecological functions and species composition. It is important to note that this screening layer may overestimate the amount of remaining Natural Habitat for two reasons. The first is that we took a precautionary approach when designating pixels a Natural or Modified value. Where there was disagreement between a Natural and Modified dataset for a given pixel, the precautionary approach was to designate it as a Natural pixel (depending on whether the datasets were classified as likely or potential).

The second is that not all aspects of human modification could be included because of data limitations. A prime example is hunting, which is a major cause of biodiversity loss (Maxwell et al., 2016) and therefore has large impacts on the ecological function and species composition of habitats, but there is no data available globally. The buffers we used around roads are a good proxy for hunting in some habitats, such as forests, but the impacts of hunting will vary based on terrain and may extend further in non-forested areas (Wu et al., 2017). In addition, as the Human Footprint Layer is a pressure map that includes the indirect effects of access in to natural areas, it does have a relationship with human pressures such as hunting and the introduction of invasive species (Venter et al., 2016).

Of the areas classified as likely or potential Natural in our screening layer, some areas may not be intact in terms of ecological function and species composition due to hunting and other anthropogenic pressures for which data are not available. For example, two thirds of Intact Forest Landscapes overlap with an area where a species has gone extinct in the past 500 years (Plumptre et al., 2019). And around 9% of tropical Intact Forest Landscapes and 11% of tropical Wilderness areas have lost at least 10% of their mammal abundance due to hunting (Benítez-López et al., 2019). When only considering large-bodied mammal assemblages, these figures go up to over 50% (Benítez-López et al., 2019).