Contributions for Nature platform Terms and Conditions of Use
(also referred to as “User Agreement”)
The User Agreement outlined below relates to the responsibility of IUCN as a Union, encompassing all of its constituent components (Members, National and Regional Committees, Commissions, Secretariat), and of any third-party users for the data contained within the Contributions for Nature platform Visualisation Module.
By using the Contributions for Nature platform, User accepts the practices described in this User Agreement, which are equivalent to the Terms and Conditions of the website [https://www.iucncontributionsfornature.org], and IUCN’s Privacy Policy. If you do not want to agree to the User Agreement, or the Terms and Conditions of the website or the Privacy Policy, you must not access or use the Contributions for Nature platform.
Use of these data including viewing them through the Contributions for Nature platform constitutes your acceptance of the User Agreement which take effect on the date from which you first use them.
- General
This User Agreement sets forth the terms and conditions of use of the Contributions for Nature platform, and the data contained within it. For the purposes of this Agreement, the data comprise all spatial and associated attribute data contained within the Contributions for Nature platform. By accessing and/or using the Contributions for Nature platform, you have read, consent and agree to comply with all of this User Agreement. The rights and obligations concerning use of the Contributions for Nature platform in accordance with this User Agreement are personal to you and are not transferable to any other person or entity. From time to time, these terms and conditions of use of the Contributions for Nature platform may be modified. Accordingly, please continue to review the terms and conditions whenever accessing or using the Contributions for Nature platform, since any use by you after any such changes, modifications, or additions shall be governed by this User Agreement.
- Copyrights and ownership
The Contributions for Nature platform contains data, material and/or other proprietary information provided by constituent institutions within IUCN, and which are protected by intellectual property laws and regulations worldwide. The rights to the Contributions for Nature platform overall are owned by IUCN. Each constituent institution within IUCN whose data, material or other proprietary information is included in the Contributions for Nature platform has authorized IUCN to include them in the Contributions for Nature platform and to make them available to the public solely for the purposes of permitting use in accordance with this User Agreement.
You agree to not alter or remove any copyright symbol or other identification concerning ownership or authorship of any of the materials contained on or otherwise made available to you in the Contributions for Nature platform.
To the extent that copyright subsists in a third party it remains with the original owner and written permission shall be required to reuse the material.
- No commercial use
Neither (a) Contributions for Nature data nor (b) any Derivative Works (as further defined in clause 5) may be put to Commercial Use without the prior written permission of IUCN. For the purposes of this User Agreement, “Commercial Use” means a) any use by, on behalf of, or to inform or assist the activities of, a commercial entity (an entity that operates ‘for profit’) or b) use by any individual or non-profit entity for the purposes of revenue generation. If you wish to use the information obtained from the Contributions for Nature platform for such commercial purposes, you must obtain written permission by contacting IUCN directly using
the contact details below in section 1 8. However, IUCN warrants that you are free to view and query the Contributions for Nature platform.
- No reposting and/or redistribution
Except as provided in this section 4, all forms of reposting, and any sub-licensing, reselling, or other forms of redistribution or communication to the public of data from the Contributions for Nature platform in their original format, either whole or in part, alone or combined with other data, are strictly prohibited without the prior written permission of IUCN. You may not repost, or redistribute to any third party, data from the Contributions for Nature platform in whole, or in part, by any means, including (but not limited to) electronic formats such as internet postings, web downloads, through web services, through interactive web maps that grant users download access, KML files or through file transfer protocols, electronic mailing, faxing, archiving in a public data, redistributing via a computer network, digital storage, memory stick or other electronic media or device, except as may otherwise be expressly permitted by IUCN in writing.
If you wish to provide a service through which data from the Contributions for Nature platform are otherwise made available for reposting or otherwise made available for redistribution, you must obtain written permission by contacting IUCN directly using the contact details below in section 1 8.
You agree to direct all requests from third parties for access to the data you obtained from the Contributions for Nature platform to IUCN at the address stated in section 1 8.
- Derivative works
For the purposes of this User Agreement, a “Derivative work” is a new work that is based upon all, or part, of the data contained within the Contributions for Nature platform. To be considered a Derivative work, the new work must be transformative and include originality on the part of the creator, otherwise any reposting or redistribution will require express written permission by IUCN as articulated under section 4.
Derivative works based on data from the Contributions for Nature platform may be distributed, including electronically or in print form, without prior written permission by IUCN, provided that Derivative works are made available with a restriction on Commercial Use and that appropriate acknowledgement and citation to source and creator (in accordance with clause 7) is included. By using data from the Contributions for Nature platform for any Derivative work, you grant IUCN and the data owners (where data is not owned by IUCN) the right to use/reuse any of your Derivative work based on data from the Contributions for Nature platform in accordance with the same Terms and Conditions of Use.
Use of data from the Contributions for Nature platform in the creation of Derivative works does not constitute endorsement by IUCN or any of its constituent institutions of any derived products, reports or analyses. The IUCN logo must not be used on any derived products, reports or analyses, or supporting materials, without express (written) permission of IUCN.
- Usage
Provided that any use is otherwise in accordance with this User Agreement, you are hereby granted a non-transferable non-commercial license to use, download and print the materials contained in the Contributions for Nature platform, without requesting prior permission, solely for conservation or education purposes, scientific analyses, and research. Either an electronic copy or two paper copies of all products, reports or analysis published using data from the Contributions for Nature platform must be sent, free of charge, to IUCN using the contact details below in section 1 8.
- Acknowledgements and citation
The recipient of the data will provide full acknowledgement and citation (which includes reference to the version of the Contributions for Nature platform used) in any materials or publications derived in part or in whole from the data. You must ensure that the following citation is always clearly reproduced in any publication or analysis involving aggregate data from the Contributions for Nature platform in any derived form or format:
IUCN ([year e.g. 2021]) Contributions for Nature platform. International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Gland, Switzerland. Available at https://www.iucncontributionsfornature.org. [Accessed (please insert date of download dd/mm/yyyy)].
Similarly, you must ensure that the following citation is always clearly reproduced in any publication or analysis involving data on individual contributions documented through the Contributions for Nature platform in any derived form or format:
[Institution in question] ([year e.g. 2021]) Potential contributions documented through the Contributions for Nature platform. International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Gland, Switzerland. Available at https://www.iucncontributionsfornature.org. [Accessed (please insert date of download dd/mm/yyyy)].
For any publications making significant use of the Contributions for Nature platform, IUCN welcomes the opportunity for collaboration, and possible co-authorship, and to comment prior to publication. Expressions of interest can be sent directly to IUCN using the contact details below in section 1 8.
- Contributions for Nature platform versions
Unless required to do so for specific analyses, you should not use any version of the data from the Contributions for Nature platform after it has been superseded by a subsequent version. It is your responsibility to check if a new version of the Contributions for Nature platform is available.
- Feedback and revised information
In order to keep the Contributions for Nature platform up to date and accurate, IUCN welcomes feedback on the quality, reliability and accuracy of the data. Such contributions should be free of restrictions, and IUCN commits to provide appropriate acknowledgement and credit for any such contributions. The objective is to improve the Contributions for Nature platform for the benefit of the global conservation community. For information on providing data to the Contributions for Nature platform, please contact IUCN directly using the contact details below in section 1 8.
- Disclaimer on frontiers and national boundaries
The designation of geographical entities in the Contributions for Nature platform do not imply the expression of, or represent, any opinion by IUCN concerning the legal status of any country, territory or area, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
- Disclaimer of Warranty; Limitations on Liability
Neither IUCN, nor any of its employees, agents, third-party content providers, or licensors warrant that access to and use of the Contributions for Nature platform will be free from interruptions or free from errors, nor that any information accessible from or related to the data is free of viruses, worms, or other harmful components; no warranty is made as to the results that may be obtained from use of the Contributions for Nature platform, or as to the accuracy, reliability, or content of any information or service provided through the Contributions for Nature platform or the IUCN website.
The Contributions for Nature platform is provided “As is” without any warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of title or implied warranties of marchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall IUCN be liable to you or any other person or entity for any loss of business or profits, or for any indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of any use of, or inability to use, the Contributions for Nature platform even if IUCN was previously advised of the possibility of such damages, or for any other claim by you or any other person.
You further expressly acknowledge and agree that information, text, graphics, and hyperlinks provided to you through the Contributions for Nature platform and located on other sites throughout the combined global electronic networks known as the Internet and the World Wide Web are provided solely as a resource and a convenience to you. Such hyperlinks to other sites are not an endorsement by IUCN of those sites. IUCN makes no warranty, either express or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability, or content of such information, text, graphics, and hyperlinks. IUCN has not tested any software located on other sites and it makes no representation as to the quality, safety, reliability or suitability of such software.
Under no circumstances shall IUCN or its affiliates or licensors be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, punitive, or consequential damages that result in any way from your use, non-use or reliance upon data from the Contributions for Nature platform, or that result from mistakes, omissions, interruptions, deletions, errors, or defects in the data, or delays in their operation, transmission or failure of performance.
- Indemnification
You agree to defend, indemnify and hold IUCN and its affiliates harmless from any and all damages, liabilities, costs and expenses, including attorneys’ fees, related to any violation of this User Agreement by you or any authorized users of your account.
- Termination
IUCN may terminate this User Agreement at any time, effective immediately, with or without prior notice to the other party. Termination of this Agreement automatically terminates your license to use data from the Contributions for Nature platform and any content or other material contained therein. The provisions of Section 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 shall survive any termination of this User Agreement.
- Governing Law; Disputes
Any dispute, controversy or claim arising under or pursuant to this User Agreement shall be settled by mutual agreement between IUCN and the User.
If IUCN and the User are unable to reach agreement amicably, the dispute, controversy or claim shall be submitted to the competent courts of Lausanne, Switzerland. The applicable law shall be Swiss law.
- Privacy Policy
IUCN is committed to protecting User privacy on the Internet while navigating https://www.iucncontributionsfornature.org. IUCN does not share personal data via the Contributions for Nature platform.
- Minors
If you are under 18, be sure to obtain your parent’s or guardian’s permission before you access the Contributions for Nature platform. We encourage parents to get involved with their children’s use of the internet and to be aware of the activities in which they are participating.
- Miscellaneous
The provisions of this User Agreement shall inure to the benefit of IUCN and its third-party content providers and licensors. No waiver by any party hereto of any of the provisions hereof or of any breach or other default hereunder shall be deemed to be a waiver of any preceding or subsequent breach or default.
- Contact information
If you have any questions about any of these terms or how they may apply to your intended use of the Contributions for Nature platform and data provided therein, please contact IUCN at contributionsplatform AT iucn.org.