- Who was the original Proteus?
Proteus was an early sea god in Greek mythology, he had the ability to change shape at will, giving rise to the term “Protean” meaning flexible, adaptable and versatile. The Proteus Partnership is aptly named, being flexible to the changing needs of business in addressing biodiversity impacts
- Is Proteus only open to companies?
Yes, the Proteus Partnership itself is only open to companies. The current Proteus Partners are all businesses which have made a contribution to the goals of the partnership, however, under the principles of Conservation Commons the datasets made possible through Proteus are freely available for non-commercial purposes.
- What is Proteus?
Proteus is a ‘public-private’ partnership which started in late 2003 as an ambitious five-year programme between UNEP-WCMC and a group of like-minded private sector organizations. The objective, broadly-speaking, was to make biodiversity information more freely available to the world and as a first step Proteus made resources available for the Centre to turn its data holdings into a more cohesive set of linked databases. The success of the first phase of Proteus has meant that it continues today, and is now in a third phase of work spanning fom 2013-2015.
- Is Proteus a tool?
No, Proteus is the partnership which has been brought together between business and UNEP-WCMC to support the ongoing development of individual tools tailored to specific needs. More information on the tools made possible through the contributions of the Proteus Partners can be found here
- What are the Proteus Partners?
A Proteus Partner is a private sector organization willing to support the objectives of Proteus. Partners either provide a financial contribution, technical support, expertise or a combination of all three. To see the current Proteus Partners visit the Partners page
- How does a private-sector organization become a Proteus partner?
Any private sector organization interested in learning more about Proteus, or in becoming a Proteus Partner, should contact proteus@unep-wcmc.org
- What benefits are given to the Proteus partners?
The partners have an opportunity to work with UNEP-WCMC to improve data, develop products tailored to their needs for risk assessment, environmental impact assessment, early warning, corporate biodiversity offsets and other key processes. Not to mention the feel-good factor of delivering invaluable information resources to the world of conservation. More information can be found here
- Is biodiversity data and information made exclusively available to Proteus partners?
None of the individual datasets held by UNEP-WCMC, including the globally important World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA), is served to any organization on an exclusive basis. The data are always freely available to those who supply it and, in accordance with the principles of the Conservation Commons, are freely available for all non-commercial purposes and users. Commercial entities, or those who wish to use the WDPA for commercial purposes, can contact UNEP-WCMC to discuss their use of the WDPA and will receive attention to help devise the most effective response to their needs.
- What is the relationship between the IBAT, the WDPA and Proteus?
Initiated by BirdLife International and Conservation International, the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT) for Business, brings the WDPA together with the World Biodiversity Database to create a tool that provides critical site-scale biodiversity information. It allows decision-makers to incorporate important biodiversity priorities into their risk assessment procedures for existing and potential operations. UNEP-WCMC joined the IBAT partnership to ensure that the best available information on protected areas is included in this important tool. In recognition of its potential value, and the contribution it makes to the second objective of Proteus, the Partners support UNEP-WCMC’s participation in the IBAT partnership, as well as further development of the IBAT itself.
