WWF Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World (2017)

Cloud-optimized versions of Global terrestrial ecoregions from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), based on the landmark Olson et al. (2001) classification. The dataset delineates 847 ecoregions grouped into 14 biomes and 9 biogeographic realms. Each ecoregion represents a distinct community of plants and animals sharing evolutionary history.

Product Details

Visibility: Public
Owner: Carl Boettiger
Created: 16 Jun 2026
Last Updated: 16 Jun 2026

Product Contents

root

Product Details

Product Contents

WWF Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World (2017)

Product Details

Visibility: Public
Owner: Carl Boettiger
Created: 16 Jun 2026
Last Updated: 16 Jun 2026

Product Contents

root

README

WWF Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World

847 global terrestrial ecoregions grouped into 14 biomes and 9 biogeographic realms, with Nature Needs Half (NNH) protection status for each.

Source: World Wildlife Fund / Dinerstein et al. (2017)
License: CC-BY 4.0
DOI: 10.1093/biosci/bix014
Temporal coverage: Based on Olson et al. (2001), updated 2017

Files

File	Format	Description
`ecoregion.parquet`	GeoParquet	847 ecoregion polygons
`ecoregion.pmtiles`	PMTiles	Web map tiles (source-layer: `ecoregion`)
`ecoregion/hex/`	H3 Parquet (res 8)	Hex-indexed, partitioned by h0
`ecoregions.gdb/`	ESRI GDB	Original source geodatabase

Data Dictionary

Column	Type	Description
`ECO_NAME`	string	Ecoregion name (unique)
`ECO_ID`	float	Unique numeric ecoregion ID
`BIOME_NUM`	float	Biome code (1–14)
`BIOME_NAME`	string	Biome type (see below)
`REALM`	string	Biogeographic realm (see below)
`ECO_BIOME_`	string	Combined ecoregion–biome code
`NNH`	float	Nature Needs Half code (1–4)
`NNH_NAME`	string	NNH category (see below)
`COLOR`	string	Hex color for ecoregion display
`COLOR_BIO`	string

Biomes (BIOME_NAME)

Code	Name	Count
1	Tropical & Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests	230
2	Tropical & Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests	56
3	Tropical & Subtropical Coniferous Forests	15
4	Temperate Broadleaf & Mixed Forests	83
5	Temperate Conifer Forests	47
6	Boreal Forests/Taiga	26
7	Tropical & Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas & Shrublands	58
8	Temperate Grasslands, Savannas & Shrublands	48
9	Flooded Grasslands & Savannas	25
10	Montane Grasslands & Shrublands	46
11	Tundra	51
12

Realms (REALM)

Realm	Count
Palearctic	205
Neotropic	179
Afrotropic	116
Nearctic	115
Indomalayan	106
Australasia	83
Oceania	24
Antarctica	18

Nature Needs Half (NNH_NAME)

Code	Category	Count	Meaning
1	Half Protected	98	≥50% of ecoregion currently under formal protection
2	Nature Could Reach Half Protected	313	<50% protected but enough intact habitat remains to reach 50%
3	Nature Could Recover	228	Insufficient intact habitat, but restoration could achieve 50%
4	Nature Imperiled	207	Heavily converted; reaching 50% protection would require major restoration

Usage Examples

DuckDB

MapLibre GL JS

Citation

Dinerstein, E., et al. (2017). An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm. BioScience, 67(6), 534–545. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/bix014

Original classification: Olson, D. M., et al. (2001). Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World: A New Map of Life on Earth. BioScience, 51(11), 933–938.

README

WWF Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World

847 global terrestrial ecoregions grouped into 14 biomes and 9 biogeographic realms, with Nature Needs Half (NNH) protection status for each.

Source: World Wildlife Fund / Dinerstein et al. (2017)
License: CC-BY 4.0
DOI: 10.1093/biosci/bix014
Temporal coverage: Based on Olson et al. (2001), updated 2017

Files

File	Format	Description
`ecoregion.parquet`	GeoParquet	847 ecoregion polygons
`ecoregion.pmtiles`	PMTiles	Web map tiles (source-layer: `ecoregion`)
`ecoregion/hex/`	H3 Parquet (res 8)	Hex-indexed, partitioned by h0
`ecoregions.gdb/`	ESRI GDB	Original source geodatabase

Data Dictionary

Column	Type	Description
`ECO_NAME`	string	Ecoregion name (unique)
`ECO_ID`	float	Unique numeric ecoregion ID
`BIOME_NUM`	float	Biome code (1–14)
`BIOME_NAME`	string	Biome type (see below)
`REALM`	string	Biogeographic realm (see below)
`ECO_BIOME_`	string	Combined ecoregion–biome code
`NNH`	float	Nature Needs Half code (1–4)
`NNH_NAME`	string	NNH category (see below)
`COLOR`	string	Hex color for ecoregion display
`COLOR_BIO`	string

Biomes (BIOME_NAME)

Code	Name	Count
1	Tropical & Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests	230
2	Tropical & Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests	56
3	Tropical & Subtropical Coniferous Forests	15
4	Temperate Broadleaf & Mixed Forests	83
5	Temperate Conifer Forests	47
6	Boreal Forests/Taiga	26
7	Tropical & Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas & Shrublands	58
8	Temperate Grasslands, Savannas & Shrublands	48
9	Flooded Grasslands & Savannas	25
10	Montane Grasslands & Shrublands	46
11	Tundra	51
12

Realms (REALM)

Realm	Count
Palearctic	205
Neotropic	179
Afrotropic	116
Nearctic	115
Indomalayan	106
Australasia	83
Oceania	24
Antarctica	18

Nature Needs Half (NNH_NAME)

Code	Category	Count	Meaning
1	Half Protected	98	≥50% of ecoregion currently under formal protection
2	Nature Could Reach Half Protected	313	<50% protected but enough intact habitat remains to reach 50%
3	Nature Could Recover	228	Insufficient intact habitat, but restoration could achieve 50%
4	Nature Imperiled	207	Heavily converted; reaching 50% protection would require major restoration

Usage Examples

DuckDB

MapLibre GL JS

Citation

Dinerstein, E., et al. (2017). An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm. BioScience, 67(6), 534–545. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/bix014

Original classification: Olson, D. M., et al. (2001). Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World: A New Map of Life on Earth. BioScience, 51(11), 933–938.

1INSTALL httpfs; LOAD httpfs;
2SET s3_endpoint='s3-west.nrp-nautilus.io';
3SET s3_url_style='path';
4
5-- Count ecoregions per biome
6SELECT BIOME_NAME, COUNT(*) as n_ecoregions
7FROM read_parquet('s3://public-ecoregion/ecoregion.parquet')
8GROUP BY BIOME_NAME
9ORDER BY n_ecoregions DESC;
10
11-- Join hex parquet with ecoregion attributes
12SELECT h8, ECO_NAME, BIOME_NAME, NNH_NAME
13FROM read_parquet('s3://public-ecoregion/ecoregion/hex/**/*.parquet')
14LIMIT 100;

1INSTALL httpfs; LOAD httpfs;
2SET s3_endpoint='s3-west.nrp-nautilus.io';
3SET s3_url_style='path';
4
5-- Count ecoregions per biome
6SELECT BIOME_NAME, COUNT(*) as n_ecoregions
7FROM read_parquet('s3://public-ecoregion/ecoregion.parquet')
8GROUP BY BIOME_NAME
9ORDER BY n_ecoregions DESC;
10
11-- Join hex parquet with ecoregion attributes
12SELECT h8, ECO_NAME, BIOME_NAME, NNH_NAME
13FROM read_parquet('s3://public-ecoregion/ecoregion/hex/**/*.parquet')
14LIMIT 100;

1const map = new maplibregl.Map({ /* ... */ });
2
3map.on('load', () => {
4  map.addSource('ecoregion', {
5    type: 'vector',
6    url: 'pmtiles://https://s3-west.nrp-nautilus.io/public-ecoregion/ecoregion.pmtiles'
7  });
8
9  map.addLayer({
10    id: 'ecoregion-fill',
11    type: 'fill',
12    source: 'ecoregion',
13    'source-layer': 'ecoregion',   // always 'ecoregion' for this dataset
14    paint: {
15      'fill-color': ['get', 'COLOR'],
16      'fill-opacity': 0.6
17    }
18  });
19
20  map.addLayer({
21    id: 'ecoregion-outline',
22    type: 'line',
23    source: 'ecoregion',
24    'source-layer': 'ecoregion',
25    paint: {
26      'line-color': '#333',
27      'line-width': 0.5
28    }
29  });
30});

1const map = new maplibregl.Map({ /* ... */ });
2
3map.on('load', () => {
4  map.addSource('ecoregion', {
5    type: 'vector',
6    url: 'pmtiles://https://s3-west.nrp-nautilus.io/public-ecoregion/ecoregion.pmtiles'
7  });
8
9  map.addLayer({
10    id: 'ecoregion-fill',
11    type: 'fill',
12    source: 'ecoregion',
13    'source-layer': 'ecoregion',   // always 'ecoregion' for this dataset
14    paint: {
15      'fill-color': ['get', 'COLOR'],
16      'fill-opacity': 0.6
17    }
18  });
19
20  map.addLayer({
21    id: 'ecoregion-outline',
22    type: 'line',
23    source: 'ecoregion',
24    'source-layer': 'ecoregion',
25    paint: {
26      'line-color': '#333',
27      'line-width': 0.5
28    }
29  });
30});