Environmental regulation data is abundant — but rarely usable.

Across the world, governments publish lists of regulated plant species to protect ecosystems, agriculture, and biodiversity. However, these lists are scattered across agencies, jurisdictions, and formats, making it difficult to answer even basic analytical questions:

• Which regions face the highest regulatory burden?
• Where do policies diverge or align?
• Which species create the greatest cross-border compliance risk?

This project was built to answer those questions clearly.

Solution Overview

We developed a comprehensive analytical database of 1,000+ regulated plant species, paired with an interface designed for decision-making, not data browsing. The system supports two primary analytical entry points:

1. Geospatial Analysis: Visualizing regulatory density across states/provinces through interactive mapping
2. Species-Based Analysis: Searching by specific plant species to identify all jurisdictions where it faces regulation

Analytical Approach

This project was designed as an analytics system from the ground up, with the interface serving the analysis.

1. Data Structuring & Normalisation

Regulatory lists from multiple jurisdictions were consolidated into a unified analytical dataset, standardising:

• Species taxonomy
• Jurisdiction hierarchy
• Regulatory scope (regional, national, international)

This step resolved inconsistencies that typically prevent meaningful comparison across regions.

2. Metric & Threshold Design

To support decision-making, raw counts were transformed into interpretable signals:

• Jurisdiction-level regulatory density
• Fixed analytical thresholds enabling cross-region comparison
• Visual encoding optimised for policy interpretation rather than statistical abstraction

The emphasis was on clarity and comparability.

3. Analytical Interfaces

Two complementary analytical views were implemented:

• Geospatial analysis to reveal regulatory patterns at a glance
• Species-centric analysis to assess cross-jurisdictional risk

Different stakeholders start with different questions; the system adapts accordingly.

What Insights Does This Enable?

The platform supports:

• Comparative regional analysis of regulatory intensity
• Risk screening for agriculture and trade
• Policy benchmarking between neighbouring jurisdictions
• Taxonomic pattern discovery across regions
• Research prioritisation based on regulatory concentration

In each case, the goal is to reduce time spent searching for information and increase confidence in decisions.

Stakeholder Impact

This analytical platform delivers measurable value to multiple stakeholder groups:

• Agricultural Professionals: Identify high-risk regulatory zones to inform cultivation planning and compliance strategy
• Farmers and Landowners: Quickly verify regulatory status of existing or planned plantings in specific locations
• Research Scientists: Target specific regions for comparative studies based on regulatory patterns
• Policy Makers: Benchmark regulatory approaches against neighboring jurisdictions to inform policy development
• Conservation Organizations: Identify regions with heightened focus on invasive species control

By transforming fragmented regulatory data into actionable intelligence, this platform significantly reduces compliance research time while improving decision-making quality across multiple domains.

System Architecture

The system architecture reflects a common analytics pattern:

• Data collection and governance maintained close to source
• Structured analytical database
• REST-based delivery of derived insights
• Lightweight interface optimised for interpretation

This separation allows analytical logic to evolve independently of presentation.

From Analytics to Decision Infrastructure

A natural next step is decision APIs — for example:

• E-commerce platforms flagging regulated plant sales by buyer location
• Automated compliance checks for logistics and trade systems

This shifts regulation from static reference to real-time decision support.

Recognition and Deployment

• Officially hosted by United Nations University (UNU-INWEH)
• Featured within the UNU Sustainability Nexus AID Tools collection
• Presented at Dresden Nexus Conference 2025
• Developed in collaboration with UC Davis Plant Sciences

Live platform:

https://regulatedplants.unu.edu
Code repository (open source):

https://github.com/oozr/invasive_plants

View our latest press release:

https://unu.edu/inweh/news/regulated-plants-database-unus-new-open-access-tool-help-prevent-spread-harmful-plants