Some More Atlases for UN Sustainable Development Goals

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Published: 01 July 2020 01 July 2020

Andy Sherin
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Several on-line atlases have been developed that are relevant to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Three are highlighted here. Please send examples of other SDG relevant atlases to Andy at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for future articles.

Blue Justice for Small-Scale Fisheries' Commitment

Too Big To Ignore (TBTI) has been promoting the notion of ‘Blue Justice’ through various platforms. One of our most prominent efforts was the registration of Blue Justice for Small-Scale Fisheries as a voluntary commitment to the Ocean Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14). Our pledge joins more than 1,400 other voluntary commitments to save our oceans, all registered on a UN platform. See TBTI Blue Justice full commitments at https://oceanconference.un.org/commitments/?id=29400

Figure 1: The Information System for Small Scale Fisheries (ISSF) is a global collaborative online database providing information on small-scale fisheries (SSF) to help enhance knowledge about this sector and their overall contributions. ISSF is available at https://issfcloud.toobigtoignore.net/

The commitment, which is part of our ongoing 'Blue Justice' campaign, calls attention to the current discourse about Blue Growth/Blue Economy, which poses potential risks to the rights of small-scale fisheries to the fishing livelihoods, which include access to fisheries resources, to coastal and ocean space, and to local, national and international markets. The campaign is urging for the social justice of small-scale fisheries be recognized not only as a basic right, but also an important condition for the realization of the UN Sustainable Goals and implementation of the SSF Guidelines.

 _{[Editor’s Note: TBTI  last appeared in the ICAN Newsletter in the September 2014 issue.]}

Interactive Database of the World’s River Basins

The Interactive Database of the World’s River Basins is one of the tools referenced by Inventory of Business Tools https://sdgcompass.org/business-tools/ . This inventory maps existing business tools against the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Interactive Database of the World’s River Basins database provides a compilation of the world’s river basins developed specifically for corporate disclosure. It features a comprehensive list of river basins worldwide, including their names, boundaries, and other helpful information. http://riverbasins.wateractionhub.org/

Figure 3: Interactive Database of the World’s River Basins

Many companies provide location-specific information in their water reporting. However, they often don’t have a common reference point for the places they talk about. Because of this, they often refer to the same place by different names, or to different places using the same name. This database solves that problem by allowing you to Find Basins by Latitude / Longitude Points and Find Basins by Country.

Figure 4: River Basins from Western Europe mapped in the Interactive Database of the World’s River Basins.

Allan Coral Atlas

Arizona State University’s Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science, the National Geographic Society, Planet, the University of Queensland, and Vulcan Inc. are working to expand the Allen Coral Atlas. With the Atlas, coral conservationists, reef managers and scientists have access to high quality information that has never before been available at this global scale.

The Allen Coral Atlas is built by a dedicated team of scientists, technologists, and conservationists, using one-of-a-kind methodologies, led and funded by Vulcan Inc.

It all starts with 3.7m satellite imagery. With this data in hand, distorting “noise” in the imagery is taken out. Algorithms then correct for the effects of the atmosphere and sun glint on the surface of the water, and then depth is calculated. Next, field data is used to calibrate rule sets before generating a habitat map with machine learning. The resulting map is then displayed on the Allen Coral Atlas website, and the Atlas Engagement team works with scientists, academics, policymakers, and protected area managers to facilitate use.