Beyond the map

BOESA

Biodiversity Outlook for Eastern and Southern Africa

Flagship regional biodiversity outlook delivering evidence-based geospatial intelligence insights to Conserve Nature, Empower Communities sustainably across Eastern and Southern Africa.

RCoE wheel — a mosaic of Eastern and Southern African biodiversity: coral reefs, penguins, mangroves, elephants, sea turtles and local communities

Beyond the map

About BOESA

Biodiversity Outlook for Eastern and Southern Africa (BOESA) is the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development’s (RCMRD’s) Premier regional biological diversity observatory providing an authoritative, evidence-based assessment of the status, trends, opportunities and emerging challenges shaping biodiversity conservation across Eastern and Southern Africa.

Developed through the collective efforts of RCMRD, its Member States, and leading international partners, BOESA integrates geospatial intelligence, spatial analysis, scientific data, and compelling visual storytelling to support informed decision- making, conservation planning, policy development and sustainable natural resource management. The observatory delivers comprehensive regional and country biodiversity profiles through high-quality maps, statistics and visual narratives offering insights into the region’s most critical ecosystems and conservation priorities.

Countries

Covered

8K+

Species

Documented

Themes

In-depth

Three Core Themes

Regional Biodiversity Landscape

🌿 Biodiversity

Biodiversity in Focus

Discover the region's most significant ecosystems, protected areas, species, and conservation achievements through maps, data, and compelling visual stories.

🌳 Forests

Forests and Landscapes

Explore the status, trends, and conservation of forest ecosystems, protected areas, and biodiversity across Eastern and Southern Africa.

🌊 Seascapes

Marine Ecosystems

From vibrant coral reefs to expansive mangrove forests, discover Africa's marines. Explore its status, emerging trends, and the efforts protecting these vital coastal and ocean ecosystems.

Discover BOESA

Explore the Platform

Beyond the book, BOESA is a living platform. Track conservation targets, wander through maps, follow a story trail, and dig into the resources.

Maps & Data

Map Gallery

Browse a curated collection of maps visualising ecosystems, protected areas and biodiversity across the region.

Explore Maps →

Impact

Case Studies

Real conservation stories from across the region, how communities, science and geospatial data turn biodiversity insight into action on the ground.

Read Case Studies →

Newsroom

News & Updates

The latest announcements, milestones and stories from BOESA and RCMRD.New data releases, partnerships, and events shaping conservation across the region.

Read the News →

Target 3 · KMGBF

30×30 Tracker

Follow the region's progress toward protecting 30% of land and sea by 2030 with live, interactive geospatial data.

Open the Tracker →

For Young Explorers

Adventure Hub

Six illustrated, true-hearted adventures across oceans, savannas and skies, a nature trail made for curious kids.

Start the Adventure →

Explore & Engage

Resources

The interactive dashboard, the WDPCA validator, the geoportal and many more of our products and services

View Resources →

"You cannot protect the environment unless you empower people, you inform them, and you help them understand that these resources are their own."

— Wangari Maathai

🏆 Global Recognition

Winning the Esri SAG Award

In 2026, RCMRD’s Regional Centre of Excellence (RCoE) received the Esri Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) Award for Building Africa’s Conservation GIS. Presented each year to a select group of organisations worldwide, the SAG Award honours pioneering, high-impact use of geospatial technology.

For biodiversity, the honour affirms that Eastern and Southern Africa can turn satellite imagery and spatial analysis into real conservation decisions, mapping protected areas, monitoring ecosystems, and measuring progress toward global targets. It is the very same geospatial engine that powers BOESA.

Special Achievement in GISEsri · 2026RCoE at RCMRD

RCoE representative at the Esri Award Ceremony holding the SAG Award

RCMRD listed among the global Esri SAG Award recipients

Read the Story ↗

Esri SAG Award 2026 glass plaque — Building Africa's Conservation GIS, RCoE at RCMRD

Tree-planting at the launch of RCMRD's CBD support role, January 2026

Launch of RCMRD’s CBD support role · Nairobi, January 2026

🌍 Regional Mandate

A CBD Support Centre

In January 2026, RCMRD was designated a Subregional Technical and Scientific Cooperation Support Centre under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) - a mandate to help Eastern and Southern African states deliver on their biodiversity commitments.

The centre anchors implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, coordinating protected-area reporting (led by RCoE) with ecosystem restoration (with the FAO) so that conservation and restoration advance hand in hand across the region.

Convention on Biological DiversityKunming-Montreal GBFEastern & Southern Africa

Transforming Maps into Stories

A two-week live online course from RCMRD teaching participants to turn spatial data into interactive Web Maps, Dashboards, StoryMaps, and GeoHex visualizations with ArcGIS Online. The same geospatial storytelling behind BOESA, applied to real conservation case studies and the GeoHex Conservation Challenge 2026.

Runs 10–21 Aug 2026 · Register by 31 Jul 2026