Short answer
Eco-index was a New Zealand biodiversity programme that built open data products to guide where and how to reconstruct native ecosystems, including two AI-trained models that detect native vegetation from satellite and Google Earth imagery, mapping tools and reconstruction costings. It began under the Biological Heritage National Science Challenge, closed in March 2026, and released all of its GIS layers and code as open access.
- Observer detected mature native forest from Planet satellite imagery.
- A second model detected young regenerating vegetation from Google Earth imagery.
- Navigator and Navigator X located the best places to reconstruct native ecosystems.
- Everything is now open access under CC BY 4.0.
- What
- Open GIS layers, mapping tools and AI remote detection models for ecosystem reconstruction
- Origin
- Biological Heritage National Science Challenge; co-directed from the University of Waikato
- Status
- Closed March 2026; all layers and code open access under CC BY 4.0
- Levy Street’s role
- Worked with the Eco-index team
What Eco-index was
Eco-index set out to answer a practical question for Aotearoa: where should native ecosystems be rebuilt, what would it cost, and what would it be worth? It started as a publicly funded research programme within the Biological Heritage National Science Challenge, co-directed from the University of Waikato’s Environmental Research Institute, became a purpose-driven company in 2024 and a charitable company in 2025.
The tools
- Observer
- Two AI-trained remote detection models. One finds mature native forest using Planet multispectral satellite imagery with radar and elevation data; a minimum viable model finds young regenerating vegetation on Google Earth imagery.
- Navigator and Navigator X
- GIS and browser-based mapping tools that locate the best places to reconstruct native ecosystems from scratch.
- Ecosystem Reconstruction Map
- A national map shading catchments by reconstruction priority.
- Valuer and costings
- NZ dollar valuations for ecosystem services and reconstruction and maintenance cost layers.
Why it is a useful AI example
Eco-index shows computer vision doing real public-good work: turning imagery that no one has time to inspect by hand into maps people can plan with. It also shows the limits honestly. The regeneration model was released as a minimum viable product, with Eco-index noting “further R&D required”, and every detection still needed human interpretation before decisions were made.
Those are the same lessons we apply in vision work for clients, from choosing between OCR and vision models to preparing training data: be clear about what the model was trained on, measure where it fails, and keep people in charge of decisions.
Status
Levy Street worked with the Eco-index team. The programme closed in March 2026 with all layers and code open access under CC BY 4.0. Its website remains live until March 2027 and its code at github.com/eco-index. For AI in farming and land management today, see our guide to AI for New Zealand agriculture.
Written by the Levy Street team in Wellington. Last updated 19 October 2026.