BON in a Box: An Open and Collaborative Platform for Biodiversity Monitoring, Indicator Calculation, and Reporting

Biodiversity loss is a critical global challenge. The Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) sets ambitious goals to protect ecosystems, halt species loss, and enhance biodiversity. The GBF’s Monitoring Framework requires countries to track progress toward biodiversity targets using a standardized set of indicators that summarize complex trends in biodiversity. However, the calculation of these indicators can be challenging due to technical barriers, lack of available data and tools, and capacity bottlenecks, hindering countries’ ability to implement the monitoring framework. BON in a Box, developed by the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity ObservationNetwork (GEO BON), is an open-source platform designed to address this challenge. It provides accessible tools for calculating Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) and indicators — helping scientists, policymakers, and conservation practitioners prioritize monitoring areas, understand biodiversity trends, and track progress toward the targets of the GBF. BON in a Box automates the process of turning raw data into EBVs and indicators by connecting individual analysis steps into pipelines that can be run with minimal technical expertise. The pipelines are fully modular, customizable, open, and transparent, with options for users to use publicly available data or input their own proprietary data. Pipelines are all contributed by GEO BON collaborators, promoting knowledge sharing and scientific collaboration. BON in a Box is a collaborative platform for turning data into useful information to guide monitoring efforts, understand biodiversity change, make informed conservation decisions, and track progress toward meeting the targets of the GBF.