" The IUCN World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) is compiled from multiple sources and is the most comprehensive global dataset on marine and terrestrial protected areas available." In a formal collaboration with the WDPA development team at UNEP-WCMC in Cambridge, United Kingdom, work is underway to integrate cross-domain searching between the GBIF network species occurrence data and the protected areas of the WDPA.

The first prototype will be demonstrated at the 4th IUCN World Conservation Congress, in Barcelona, 5th - 14th October 2008. This prototype will allow for the selection, visualisation and download of GBIF-mobilised species occurrence data for two countries, namely Spain and Madagascar, recorded from within the protected areas of those countries, and the functionality will be available on the new WDPA website launched at the Congress. Following this demonstration the work will continue to cover the full spectrum of PAs within the WDPA.