Biodiversity information management

Good decisions need good information.

Western Australia generates vast amounts of biodiversity data through research, monitoring, environmental assessment and land management. But information can be difficult to find, connect and use.

WABSI brings end users and researchers together to identify where information gaps are limiting decisions, then develops and coordinates targeted research, data and analytics capability to turn fragmented information into trusted evidence.

Biodiversity information is growing rapidly. But more data does not necessarily mean better decisions.

Information can sit across different organisations, systems and disciplines, with different standards, formats, access arrangements and levels of quality. This makes it difficult to bring information together, understand what it means and apply it to complex environmental decisions.

For government, industry, researchers and land managers, the result can be uncertainty, duplicated effort and missed opportunities to make better use of existing knowledge.

WABSI starts with the decision that needs to be made.

We work with end users to identify what information is needed, what is already available and where the critical gaps lie. We then connect the science, data, technology and expertise needed to address those gaps.

The goal is not simply to collect more data. It is to create trusted, usable intelligence that can answer real questions, test scenarios and support action.

Initiatives such as the Shared Environmental Analytics Facility (SEAF) demonstrate what this can look like in practice: connecting data, models and analytics in a secure, shared environment to support more consistent, transparent and confident environmental decision-making.

WABSI works with the people who need to make decisions about biodiversity to understand the questions they are trying to answer and the uncertainty they face.

From there, we identify the data, science, analytical capability and infrastructure needed to provide better evidence.

We bring together organisations with complementary expertise and capabilities, creating opportunities to share data, methods, models and knowledge while maintaining appropriate governance and security.

Independent science remains at the heart of the approach. Technology enables the science to be connected, analysed and applied.

The result is more than a dataset or research output. It is a pathway from data to insight, insight to evidence, and evidence to decision.

Through initiatives such as SEAF, this approach is already demonstrating how shared environmental intelligence can support cumulative assessment, environmental approvals and long-term planning. (SEAF)