Environmental degradation and habitat loss continue to accelerate. Solutions may be found to reverse this trend, but only with comprehensive data, information and knowledge on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. Data access and knowledge sharing are not simple tasks, however. Difficulties abound. Much of the data, information and knowledge conservationists require is fragmented, difficult to find, or simply not accessible to the conservation community. This challenge is magnified in many developing countries where the consequences of the ever-widening "digital divide" impede conservation efforts at national, regional, and global levels.

The global community made a commitment in Johannesburg to significantly reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010, as well as to track progress towards achieving this target. Open and efficient access to the best available scientific information, knowledge, and best practice is central to this effort - with anything less this target will not be met.

The Conservation Commons is the expression of a cooperative effort of non-governmental organizations, international and multi-lateral organizations, governments, academia, and the private sector, which is responding to this challenge by seeking to break down barriers to access, more effectively connect practitioners to data and information assets, as well as to develop and adopt standards for integrating these assets to support the generation of knowledge and best practice. The purpose of the Conservation Commons is to ensure open access and fair use of data, information, knowledge, and expertise on the conservation of biodiversity for the benefit of the global conservation community and beyond.