Gegevensautoriteit Natuur

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Geen beschrijving

Jan van Groenendael, professor in ecology at the Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen

National Authority for Data concerning Nature

The authority in person

In 2007 Jan van Groenendael, professor in ecology at the Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, was appointed National Authority for Data concerning Nature by the Dutch Government. His commision is to solve problems arising from situations where ecological interests collide with economic interests. He is supported by a dedicated staff, organized in a non-profit foundation under the same name.

The mission

Over the last century, The Netherlands have accumulated enormous amounts of data on the whereabouts of species. However, this information is scattered among different organisations, in different formats and not always digitally available. The aim of the National Authority therefore is: making distribution data of plant and animal species available through one National Data Warehouse: the National Database Flora and Fauna (NDFF).

The Authority aims at standardizing, validating and collating data, and making them available as completely as possible.

What is the National Database Flora and Fauna (NDFF)?

The NDFF is the data warehouse construction that contains the distribution data of plants and animals in the Netherlands. Its main components are:
data entry portal(s), a basic archive, a validation service, a delivery database, data export portal(s) and a query builder.

All data entering the NDFF are validated using a quality filter on input. Data that are approved can be extracted from the database by members of the NDFF. Several pilot projects have been and are being carried out to determine what is the best methodology and the requirements the database should satisfy..

Facts about the NDFF

  • As per the first of January the system contains over 30 million records on the distribution of flora and fauna, growing daily.
  • These 30 million records are the result of combining over 100 different databases;
  • 20.000 volunteers provide continues updates, as well as various institutions, both public and private with a vested interest in distributional data;
  • Each year more then 2.5 million data are added to the database;
  • All data are tractable: all data in the NDFF are labelled as to origin who collected the data, how were they collected, when and where they were collected;
  • All taxonomy and coding used in the system is unique and standardised;
  • All species that occur in the Netherlands are included in the system, regardless their status;
  • The system provides a complete picture of all habitats in the Netherlands;
  • Included in the database are 19 monitoring programs for specific species and speciesgroups. These monitoring programs enable the determination of trends in species distribution;
  • The system is, among others, used by the local, regional and national government, nature conservation agencies, building companies, various types of consultants and law enforcement.
 
 
 
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