Earth observation has quickly become one of the most powerful tools in the fight to understand, protect, and restore Earth’s biodiversity.
Leveraging data from satellites, airborne sensors, and ground systems will enable scientists and policymakers to monitor ecosystems at an unprecedented scale and level of detail. From tracking wildlife habitat to assessing ocean health to protecting endangered species, Earth observations enable timely action based on hard evidence.
Innovation News Network explores how Earth observation is changing biodiversity conservation and why it’s more important than ever.
Satellites on patrol: monitoring forests, wetlands, and corridors
Earth observation satellites such as Landsat and Sentinel are revolutionizing the way critical terrestrial habitats are mapped and monitored.
These orbiting observatories collect multispectral images that reveal changes in vegetation cover, land use, and habitat conditions over time over vast areas.
Since 1972, the Landsat program has provided one of the longest continuous global records of the Earth’s surface, allowing scientists to detect changes in ecosystems in areas too large or remote for traditional field surveys.
Mapping forests, wetlands, grasslands, and other ecosystems is fundamental to terrestrial biodiversity. Earth observations can track deforestation, fragmentation, and degradation, which are major threats to biodiversity around the world. Copernicus’ Sentinel-2 frequently provides high-resolution data optimized for vegetation monitoring, helping researchers quantify changes in leaf area, chlorophyll content, and plant communities that support a myriad of species.
Perhaps most importantly, Earth observations can help identify and monitor migratory corridors used by large mammals and birds. They are the lifeblood of seasonal migration patterns that support healthy ecosystems.
By repeatedly and systematically imaging, conservationists can observe large-scale patterns in habitat connectivity and intervene when critical routes are threatened by human development or climate change.
Staring at the sea: How Earth observation protects marine ecosystems
The world’s oceans are teeming with life, but they also pose some of the biggest challenges for biodiversity monitoring. While field surveys are expensive and limited in scope, Earth observations provide a wide-ranging and consistent snapshot of ocean conditions not available through other methods.
Earth observations play a central role in assessing ocean health. Remote sensing of ocean color from satellites such as Sentinel-3 characterizes chlorophyll-a concentrations and other indicators of biological productivity across the world’s oceans.
This information helps identify areas of high productivity and biodiversity, which often provide important habitat for fish, turtles, and marine mammals.
Equally important, satellites can help monitor harmful algal blooms (HABs), which are rapid blooms of algae that can deplete oxygen, release toxins, and harm marine life and human health. Continuous monitoring from Earth observations can alert scientists to bloom outbreaks and allow fisheries managers and public health officials to respond effectively.
The oceans are also subject to anthropogenic pressures such as overfishing, shipping, and climate change. Recent research has demonstrated that satellite data can depict marine landscapes (ecosystem units defined by biological and physical characteristics) and guide conservation measures that protect biodiversity while minimizing economic disruption.
From coral reefs to algae blooms: mapping ocean health from space
Coral reefs are some of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth, but they are also among the most threatened. Earth observation techniques are increasingly being used to indirectly assess coral reef health and biodiversity by mapping habitat structure and water quality.
Research shows that satellite-derived maps of benthic habitat diversity can serve as a proxy for coral and fish species diversity across large reef systems, and can be an effective complement to underwater surveys, which are often limited by cost and accessibility.
Hyperspectral imaging is a technique that obtains detailed spectral information beyond traditional RGB images and is particularly promising for coral reef monitoring. This will help detect stress signals associated with bleaching events and quantify subtle changes in coral health over time.
Together, these tools allow scientists to monitor water-borne stressors such as eutrophication, sedimentation, and pollution, which can help inform conservation decisions that balance ecological protection and coastal development.
Tracking invisible threats: Detecting poaching and habitat loss
Habitat loss due to agriculture, infrastructure development, and illegal mining not only reduces the living space available to species but also increases their vulnerability to other threats.
Traditional monitoring methods rely heavily on on-site observations, which can be time-consuming and limited in scope. Earth observations fill that gap by frequently providing large-scale data that can detect changes early, often before serious damage occurs.
For example, enforcement agencies can use satellite imagery to identify patterns of deforestation in protected areas, allowing them to plan targeted responses to illegal logging. Similarly, radar and optical images can detect changes in wetland hydrology that are essential for species that rely on these habitats for reproduction and survival.
In the marine sector, satellite data combined with other monitoring systems such as Automatic Identification System (AIS) vessel tracking will enable near real-time detection of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, a major driver of marine biodiversity loss.
Focus on endangered species: EO tools for wildlife conservation
Earth observation also plays a role in protecting endangered species. Although satellites cannot count individual animals, they provide important indicators of habitat conditions that influence species presence and abundance.
Long-term satellite records from programs like Landsat help scientists assess how land cover changes are affecting species ranges and pinpoint new risks, such as habitat fragmentation.
Advanced analytics, including machine learning, power these capabilities. Platforms such as EO4wildlife provide habitat modeling and environmental assessment tools that scientists can use to understand migration patterns and habitat use by integrating satellite data with biological observations and movement data of tagged animals (such as birds and sea turtles).
Bridging science and policy: Turning satellite data into action
The ultimate value of Earth observations lies in translating data into meaningful policy and conservation outcomes. Governments, NGOs, and international organizations increasingly rely on Earth observations to determine environmental legislation, protected area designation, and global sustainability goals.
For example, the 30×30 Target, an initiative that aims to protect 30% of the world’s terrestrial and marine areas by 2030, relies heavily on Earth observations to identify priority areas for conservation, monitor progress, and assess the effectiveness of conservation measures.
In countries such as the UK, national conservation organizations use Earth observations to support habitat mapping and natural capital assessment, ensuring that investments in conservation are delivering tangible benefits to biodiversity.
The trend toward open and accessible Earth observation data through programs such as Copernicus and NASA’s EarthData means that conservationists around the world can tap into this wealth of information to support evidence-based decision-making.
The future of conservation: AI, big data, and next-generation Earth observation
Earth observation technology is rapidly evolving. Next generation satellites with higher spatial, spectral and temporal resolution will provide even richer insights into biodiversity patterns.
When these data streams are combined with artificial intelligence and big data analytics, subtle ecological changes can be detected faster and more accurately than ever before.
For example, machine learning models can analyze vast satellite datasets to identify patterns that human analysts might miss, whether they are early signs of habitat stress or new threats to species survival. This convergence of Earth observation and AI is reshaping biodiversity research by enabling predictive modeling and real-time monitoring.
The growth of collaborative platforms that integrate Earth observations, field observations, and citizen science will further strengthen global biodiversity monitoring networks.
The future of biodiversity conservation
Earth observation is no longer a niche scientific pursuit. It is the basis of global biodiversity and conservation efforts.
From tracking the health of forests and wetlands to observing ocean health to informing the protection of endangered species, Earth observations provide the data needed to understand and respond to complex ecological challenges.
As threats to biodiversity continue to grow, continued advances in Earth observation technology and analysis offer hope that humans will be able to make informed and effective decisions to protect the diversity of life on Earth.
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