Welcome! The New York Area Biodiversity Research and Conservation Database (NYBD) is an online database of information on conservation and biodiversity research projects in the New York metropolitan area. This area is defined as the 31 counties of the Regional Plan Association's planning zone, which includes parts of New York State, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

The New York metropolitan area contains a mosaic of ecosystems extending over more than 10,000 square miles. In this region, hundreds of government units, private interests, and public entities take actions every day that affect our local flora and fauna. Meanwhile, in order to understand these impacts, numerous non-profit, educational, and other organizations conduct research on a regular basis. Sharing conservation information across this diverse and densely populated landscape is a challenge… that's why we've created NYBD.

The purpose of NYBD is threefold:

1. to establish an understanding of the extent of, and the remaining need for, biodiversity research and conservation efforts in the greater New York region;
2. to help foster public awareness of the condition and importance of the local natural environment; and
3. to help influence environmentally relevant policy decisions that will affect the health and well being of New York's inhabitants.

How Do I Participate?

In NYBD, you will find reference information for conservation activities conducted from 1980 to the present. The database provides quick access to project locations and dates, keywords, investigators and methodologies, and other useful reference information.

• Browse all records.
• Search for projects by combining free text, other project fields, and geographic location — for example, all projects studying Great Blue Herons, or all projects in Jamaica Bay involving conservation science.
• Create a map of your query result.
• Use the mapping tool to find projects by location.
• Add your research project to the database (requires login).