All States & UTs
Click a state to view district-level data.
Districts
Indicative district biodiversity data for the selected state.
Understanding ecosystems through data
Terrava visualizes biodiversity scores, species richness, conservation indicators, and ecosystem trends — powered by live GBIF occurrence data.
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Click a state to view district-level data.
Indicative district biodiversity data for the selected state.
The Biodiversity Index is a single number from 1 to 99 that summarises the overall ecological health of a state or district. Think of it as a report card for nature — the higher the number, the richer and better-protected the biodiversity of that region.
The index combines three factors:
Each factor is scored relative to all other Indian states, so the index reflects where a state stands within India — not on a global scale. A score of 70+ indicates a strong biodiversity profile. 50–70 is moderate. Below 50 is relatively lower, which is typical for densely populated or arid states.
Why log-scaling? Occurrence counts and protected area densities vary enormously — Maharashtra has 53 protected areas while Daman & Diu has none, and Kerala's occurrence records dwarf those of remote territories. Using a logarithmic scale prevents one extreme outlier from making everyone else look the same, so the colour differences on the map are meaningful.
Occurrences
The number of verified species observation records from that state in the
GBIF database.
One "occurrence" is one confirmed sighting of a species — a researcher logging
a tiger, a birder recording a warbler, or a botanist photographing a plant.
More records generally mean a richer and better-documented ecosystem.
Note: lower counts can also mean the region is
under-surveyed, not necessarily that biodiversity is lower.
Forest Cover (%)
The percentage of the state's total geographic area covered by forest, as measured by Forest Survey of India satellite imagery (2023 report). This includes dense forests, moderately dense forests, and open forests meeting a minimum canopy density threshold.
Protected Areas
The count of officially designated National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries in the state, as notified under the Wildlife Protection Act and reported in MoEF&CC Annual Report 2022–23. These are legally protected zones where wildlife and habitats are formally safeguarded by the Government of India.
Threatened Species (est.)
An approximate count of species known to occur in the state that are classified as Vulnerable, Endangered, or Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. This is an indicative figure based on published distribution ranges — treat it as a rough signal, not a precise count.
Trend
A qualitative indicator of the state's current ecological trajectory, based on known conservation patterns and published assessments:
GBIF — Global Biodiversity Information Facility
gbif.org is the world's largest open biodiversity database, with over 2 billion verified occurrence records contributed by researchers, museums, citizen scientists, and institutions globally. Terrava fetches India's state-level occurrence counts live from the GBIF API every time the page loads, so the numbers reflect the current state of the database.
FSI — Forest Survey of India (State of Forest Report 2023)
India's official biennial forest assessment, produced by the Forest Survey of India using satellite imagery and ground surveys. Forest cover percentages on this site come from the 2023 edition.
MoEF&CC — Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (Annual Report 2022–23)
India's official count of protected areas — National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries — per state, as reported in the 2022–23 Annual Report.
District-level scores are currently indicative estimates based on known ecological zones and published district-level studies. They are not derived from direct GBIF queries at district level and should not be used for official, policy, or research purposes. State-level data sourced from GBIF and FSI/MoEF is authoritative.