Natural History Museum’s Biodiversity Intactness Index Gains Ground Among Corporate and Investment Industry

The Natural History Museum (NHM) is seeing growing momentum in the adoption and integration of its Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII) within the corporate and financial sectors. As biodiversity loss becomes an increasingly material risk to economies and businesses worldwide, the BII is emerging as a critical dataset for quantifying ecosystem health and informing nature-positive investment strategies.

Developed by NHM researchers, the BII is widely recognised as the most scientifically robust measure of ecosystem health. The BII tracks how biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems is affected by human activities, particularly land-use change and intensification.

Using global data across more than 76,000 species and 50,000 sites, the BII shows how local terrestrial biodiversity is responding to human pressures such as land-use change and intensification. This not only captures historical trends but also enables forward-looking scenario modelling to support decision-making.

This week, both Cecil and Dunya Analytics have announced collaborations with the Museum to integrate the BII into their respective platforms. Cecil simplifies access to nature data by making it consistent, analysis-ready, and easy to integrate. NHM BII datasets are now available on Cecil’s platform, alongside other open and commercial sources. Customers can request data for any area of interest and receive it in their preferred format, CRS, and resolution, ready to use in tools like Felt, ArcGIS, or custom systems. Dunya Analytics has developed a scientifically rigorous methodology that combines the best available global biodiversity datasets to automatically quantify nature risk, making it easy for companies to conduct compliant assessments and gain actionable insights for their nature strategies.

"We're thrilled to integrate the Biodiversity Intactness Index into our platform because it exemplifies exactly what we strive for at Dunya Analytics - scientifically robust metrics that are intuitive to interpret. BII gives our customers a clear measure of ecosystem integrity that translates directly into actionable insights for their nature risk assessments and biodiversity strategies," said Rebecca Stern, Chief Science Officer of Dunya Analytics.

Alex Logan Co-founder & CEO of Cecil added, "Cecil is excited about the Natural History Museum BII datasets because they provide a standardised way to represent ecosystem health, a metric that is increasingly used across nature conservation, corporate, and finance sectors".

Dr Adriana De Palma and Professor Andy Purvis, co-leaders of the team that developed BII added, “We’ve spent over a decade building and analysing the world’s most comprehensive dataset on how land use affects biodiversity, but science only matters if it makes a difference. By turning our BII research into insights that shape real decisions and making the data easily accessible for broader audiences, innovative companies such as Cecil Earth and Dunya Analytics help move us from documenting biodiversity loss to driving its reversal.”

In recent years, BII has gained traction in the financial community through strategic partnerships. In 2023, NHM collaborated with Bloomberg to integrate BII data into Bloomberg’s financial platform. This marked a major milestone, allowing investors to view biodiversity risk across nearly 50,000 global companies by linking their physical assets to local ecosystem intactness, worldwide. The partnership represented the first time such a comprehensive biodiversity dataset was made directly available to capital markets, enabling more informed assessments of companies’ biodiversity footprints and nature-related dependencies.

Building on this success, NHM joined forces with sustainability data provider GIST Impact in 2025 to further scale the impact of BII. Together, the NHM and GIST Impact aim to support over 98% of global corporates and millions of private businesses in understanding and managing their impact on nature.

The increased use of BII is driven by a growing recognition that biodiversity loss presents systemic risks to business and investment. Over half of the world’s GDP, equivalent to approximately USD 44 trillion is threatened by biodiversity declines and ecosystem collapse (World Economic Forum, 2021). As regulators, investors, and consumers demand clearer evidence of nature stewardship, businesses are seeking ways to measure and mitigate their biodiversity impacts. The BII offers a credible, transparent, and scalable solution that meets these needs, providing a consistent metric applicable across geographies, industries, and asset types.

Dr Doug Gurr, Director of the Natural History Museum, noted that this surge in adoption marks a new era in biodiversity accountability. “We’re thrilled to be supporting investors in better understanding, measuring, and reducing their impacts on nature. These ground-breaking collaborations mark a bold new chapter in the global effort to safeguard biodiversity. By partnering with leaders in the corporate and financial sectors, we’ve made our cutting-edge research accessible to inform more sustainable investment decisions that shape how nature is protected and restored.”

As biodiversity becomes a central pillar of sustainability strategies, NHM’s continued leadership will be essential in supporting the global transition to a nature-positive economy.

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About The Natural History Museum, London

The Natural History Museum is a world-leading scientific research centre and one of the world’s most visited museums. Our mission is to create advocates for the planet – people who act for nature.

Our 400 scientists are finding solutions to the planetary emergency - from reversing biodiversity loss to resourcing the green economy.

We are seeking an additional £150 million to transform our South Kensington building: placing our groundbreaking research at its heart, revitalising four existing galleries, opening two new magnificent galleries and delighting 1 million more visitors a year with the wonders of the natural world.