ARKive (Via Herp Digest)

ARKive http://www.arkive.org/

"A vast treasury of wildlife images has been steadily accumulating over the past century, yet no one has known its full extent - or indeed its gaps - and no one has had a comprehensive way of gaining access to it. ARKive will put that right, and it will be an invaluable tool for all concerned with the well-being of the natural world."
Sir David Attenborough
Wildscreen Patron

Mission
Promoting the Conservation of the World's Threatened Species, Through the Power of Wildlife Imagery
With species extinction now occurring at a faster rate than at any time in Earth's history, effective awareness raising and education programmes are ever more vital. Powerful wildlife imagery is an emotive and effective means of building environmental awareness and engagement, and quick and easy access to this imagery is essential in the digital mass communications society we live in today.
However, until now, this valuable imagery has been scattered throughout the world, in a wide variety of private, commercial and specialist collections, with no centralised collection, restricted public access, limited educational use, and no co-ordinated strategy for its long term preservation.
ARKive is now putting that right, gathering together the very best films and photographs of the world's species into one centralised digital library, to create a unique audio-visual record of life on Earth, prioritising those species at most risk of extinction. Preserved and maintained for future generations, ARKive is making this key resource accessible to all, from scientists and conservationists to the general public and school children, via its award-winning website - www.arkive.org

Contributors
The ARKive project has unique access to the very best of the world's wildlife films and photographs, with more than 3,500 of the world's leading filmmakers and photographers actively contributing to the project, and giving ARKive unprecedented access to their materials. Contributors include the most famous names in natural history broadcasting, commercial film and picture agencies, leading academic institutions and international conservation organisations, as well as myriad individual filmmakers, photographers, scientists and conservationists.
Please see the Media donors section for more information.

Supporters
ARKive also has the backing of the world's leading conservation organisations, including BirdLife International, Conservation International, IUCN, UNEP-WCMC, and WWF, as well as leading academic and research institutions, such as the Natural History Museum, London; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; and the Smithsonian Institution. ARKive's web-based materials reciprocally link with and highlight the work of these organisations and others, helping promote their activities to ARKive's wide civil-society user base.
ARKive is also pleased to be working with Google to produce ARKive featured layers on Google Earth, and is a member of the Institutional Council of the Encyclopedia of Life, and a key content provider.

Goals and objectives
ARKive has achieved significant success since its launch in 2003, with numerous awards and accolades, fantastic visitor rates from all round the world and an impressive line-up of international partners and strategic alliances. ARKive's priority is now the completion of audio-visual profiles for the c. 17,000 species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Wildscreen
ARKive is a Wildscreen initiative: a not-for-profit charity organisation, with a long standing reputation for being at the heart of the international wildlife media industry. Wildscreen's mission is to promote the public understanding and appreciation of the world's biodiversity and the need for its conservation, through the power of wildlife imagery.

The ARKive project is also supported by Wildscreen USA, Inc., a non-profit organisation based in Washington, DC.

Please see the Wildscreen section for more information.

"ARKive is a noble project - one of the most valuable in all biology and conservation practice."
Professor E. O. Wilson
Harvard University