Biodiversity

What Biodiversity does

The SCAR Antarctic Biodiversity Portal (biodiversity.aq) is a non-profit scientific data infrastructure that aggregates and disseminates biodiversity occurrence data, taxonomic records, literature, and identification resources for Antarctica, the Subantarctic Islands, and the Southern Ocean (the MEASO region). It was established around 2006 as a successor to SCAR-MarBIN and transitioned on July 11, 2023 to become a GBIF-hosted portal. The platform is built on the GBIF infrastructure stack and publishes data using the Darwin Core standard, with deep integration into the global GBIF and OBIS networks. Its core product is the SCAR Antarctic Biodiversity Portal web platform, complemented by sub-products including the Register of Antarctic Species (RAS) — an authoritative taxonomic registry hosted within WoRMS — and specialized databases covering diet and energy, persistent organic pollutants, penguin population dynamics (MAPPPD), CEMP indicator species, and the Weddell Sea WOBEC expedition data platform.

The portal is governed by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and operationally managed by the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) in Brussels, Belgium, with a small core team of approximately four staff (project manager, data science officer, scientific collaborator, and additional collaborator). A global network of 20+ taxonomic editors from institutions across Belgium, Spain, the UK, New Zealand, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Brazil, the USA, Italy, France, Malaysia, and Australia maintains species data quality. The platform serves three primary user groups: scientific researchers studying Antarctic and Southern Ocean ecosystems, policymakers and conservation organizations supporting marine protected area planning and climate impact assessment, and taxonomic editors contributing data. Distribution occurs through the biodiversity.aq web portal, GBIF and OBIS global networks, and a RAS webservice (REST and SOAP) for programmatic access in R, Python, Excel, and Java.

The business model is non-commercial: the portal is a free, open-access scientific infrastructure with no pricing tiers or paid services. Operations are funded by the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO) through the 3-year ADVANCE project (Antarctic bioDiVersity dAta iNfrastruCturE), which targets the creation of a Virtual Research Infrastructure for the region. Go-to-market is community-led via SCAR conferences, scientific workshops (e.g., KU Leuven 2026), and the taxonomic editor network, with GDPR-compliant data practices and a multilingual interface (English, Spanish, French, Russian).

Name

Biodiversity

Legal name

SCAR Antarctic Biodiversity Portal

Website

https://biodiversity.aq

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The SCAR Antarctic Biodiversity Portal (biodiversity.aq) is a non-profit scientific data infrastructure providing free open access to Antarctic and Southern Ocean biodiversity occurrence data, taxonomic records, literature, and identification resources for researchers, policymakers, and conservation organizations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Biodiversity Data Infrastructure

NAICS

Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (5192), Libraries and Archives (51921), Administration of Conservation Programs (92412)

akta.pro primary industry

Biodiversity & Habitat Conservation (BPAGAGAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Wildlife Conservation & Species Protection (BPAGAGAB)

Keywords

• Biodiversity data platform
• Taxonomic species registry
• Antarctic marine ecology
• Scientific data infrastructure
• Biodiversity informatics

Headquarters

HQ city

Brussels

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Public Research Funding: The portal is funded as a public scientific infrastructure by Belgian Science Policy (BELSPO) through the ADVANCE project. This is a 3-year funded project to create a Virtual Research Infrastructure for Antarctic and Southern Ocean biodiversity data. No commercial revenue generation.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The SCAR Antarctic Biodiversity Portal is an open-access biodiversity data platform for the Antarctic and Southern Ocean, providing searchable occurrence data, taxonomic species lists, scientific literature, identification keys, and specialized databases (diet/energy, pollutants, penguin populations, Weddell Sea expedition data). It operates as a GBIF-hosted participant node, integrating Darwin Core standard data with global OBIS and WoRMS networks, and is funded by the Belgian Science Policy (BELSPO) ADVANCE project.

Product overview

The SCAR Antarctic Biodiversity Portal is a GBIF-hosted data platform for Antarctic and Southern Ocean biodiversity. It provides access to occurrence data, literature, and species information through the main portal (biodiversity.aq). Key sub-products include the Register of Antarctic Species (RAS) for taxonomic data, specialized databases for diet/energy and POPs, and data management tools. The portal integrates with GBIF and OBIS networks for global data sharing, while the ADVANCE project (BELSPO-funded) supports development of the Virtual Research Infrastructure.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Register of Antarctic Species (RAS): An authoritative and comprehensive list of names of marine and terrestrial species in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, hosted by WoRMS.

Products and services

• SCAR Antarctic Biodiversity Portal The main web platform at biodiversity.aq providing access to Antarctic and Southern Ocean biodiversity occurrence data, literature, species checklists, identification keys, analytics dashboards, and links to specialized databases, for researchers, policymakers, and the public.
• Register of Antarctic Species (RAS) Authoritative taxonomic database providing comprehensive lists of marine and terrestrial species names for Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, maintained by taxonomic experts and integrated with WoRMS, with REST and SOAP webservice APIs.
• Biodiversity Data Management Tools A suite of biodiversity data management tools including Darwin Core Excel template generator, Excel-to-Darwin Core macro converter, crosstab-to-list converter, UUID generator, coordinate converter, GBIF data validator, and WoRMS taxon match tool, for data publishers and researchers.
• SCAR Southern Ocean Diet and Energy Database Specialized database containing diet and energy flow data for Southern Ocean species from conventional studies (e.g., stomach contents) and modern methods (e.g., molecular, stable isotopes, fatty acids), for ecosystem and food-web researchers.
• Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Database Data exploration application for persistent organic pollutants in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, supporting contamination monitoring research.
• MAPPPD (Mapping Application for Penguin Populations and Projected Dynamics) Open-access decision support tool for managers, scientists, and the public containing penguin population counts and projected dynamics from four charismatic Sphenisciformes species.
• WOBEC Expedition Data Platform Platform for the Weddell Sea Observatory of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Change project, supporting long-term biodiversity monitoring data from Antarctic Weddell Sea expeditions.
• CEMP Species Indicator List CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Program indicator species pages featuring Adélie penguin, chinstrap penguin, gentoo penguin, macaroni penguin, black-browed albatross, Antarctic petrel, Cape petrel, and Antarctic fur seal, with identification information and occurrence records.

Quantifiable outcome

• 20 years of continuous operation and data accumulation
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility)coreTechnology or IntegrationGBIF provides hosted portal infrastructure and data aggregation services. The portal operates as a GBIF hosted portal (participant node 306), with all biodiversity data integrated into the global GBIF network.
• OBIS (Ocean Biodiversity Information System)coreTechnology or IntegrationOBIS is the marine component of GBIF, integrating Southern Ocean biodiversity data into the global marine biodiversity information system.
• SCAR (Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSCAR is the parent organization of the portal. The portal supports SCAR's Antarctic biodiversity research priorities including the Horizon Scan exercise and Southern Ocean Action Plan.
• WoRMS (World Register of Marine Species)coreTechnology or IntegrationThe Register of Antarctic Species (RAS) is hosted within the WoRMS infrastructure. RAS taxonomic data is consistent with WoRMS for marine taxa.
• Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRBINS hosts the portal team and serves as the Belgian national node for GBIF. Staff members are affiliated with RBINS.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• eBird (Cornell Lab of Ornithology): eBird is the dominant global avian occurrence database and shares several CEMP indicator species (penguins, albatrosses, petrels) tracked by biodiversity.aq; it represents the citizen-science-driven model of biodiversity data aggregation that intersects with the SCAR portal's seabird monitoring use case.
• Map of Life: Map of Life is a Yale-led biodiversity data platform that integrates species occurrence, range, and trait data for global biodiversity science; it competes for the same research and policy user base and offers similar decision-support analytics to what biodiversity.aq provides for the Southern Ocean.
• VertNet: VertNet is a vertebrate biodiversity occurrence network that publishes Darwin Core-compliant data to GBIF, mirroring biodiversity.aq's data-publishing and discovery model for a narrower taxonomic scope; it competes for taxonomic-editor attention and GBIF-integrated research traffic.

Direct peers

• GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): GBIF is the global biodiversity data aggregator that hosts the SCAR Antarctic Biodiversity Portal as a participant node; it is the most directly comparable platform, sharing the same Darwin Core data model, occurrence search functionality, and open-access philosophy.
• WoRMS (World Register of Marine Species): WoRMS hosts the Register of Antarctic Species (RAS) within its infrastructure and serves as the authoritative taxonomic backbone for marine species worldwide; the two share identical taxonomic-editor workflows and serve the same marine biology research community.
• LifeWatch ERIC: LifeWatch is a European e-infrastructure for biodiversity and ecosystem research, and LifeWatch Belgium already provides computational infrastructure to biodiversity.aq; both share an open-science, FAIR-data, public-research-funding model and serve overlapping marine and Antarctic research communities.
• OBIS (Ocean Biodiversity Information System): OBIS is the marine-focused biodiversity data network that the SCAR portal integrates with for Southern Ocean occurrence data; it serves an analogous role for global marine biodiversity, with overlapping data standards and a similar research-community user base.

Others

• SCAR (Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research): SCAR is the parent scientific organization of biodiversity.aq and sets Antarctic research priorities including the Horizon Scan and Southern Ocean Action Plan; it is not a competing platform but the governance body whose roadmap directly shapes the portal's strategic direction and funding access.

Regional players

• Atlas of Living Australia (ALA): ALA is Australia's national biodiversity data portal, structurally similar to biodiversity.aq as a GBIF-node aggregator with occurrence search, taxonomic registries, and citizen-science inputs; it serves as a useful benchmark for what a fully scaled national Antarctic-adjacent biodiversity portal looks like.

Broad incumbents

• iNaturalist: iNaturalist is a large-scale, citizen-science biodiversity observation platform that aggregates occurrence records globally via GBIF; it overlaps with biodiversity.aq's occurrence data model but is far broader in geographic scope and user base, complementing rather than replacing Antarctic scientific records.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/gbif/hp-antarctic
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/biodiversity.aq

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Biodiversity