🌿 Conservation Units List: Exploring Brazilian Biomes with Node.js
🔍 What is it?
This project was created to extract data from Conservation Units (UCs) available on the official Brazilian Government website (🌐 gov.br). It is a simple yet powerful tool designed to organize information about Brazil's biomes in a practical and accessible way.
👉 Specifically, we used the ICMBio page as the main source. From there, we accessed all available UCs and collected key information, including:
📋 Names of the Units
🔗 Links to the UCs' pages
📧 Contact emails
🗂️ Management plan details
🛠️ How does the project work?
This system was developed using Node.js, a lightweight and versatile technology for automation tasks. It is designed to be executed directly in the terminal and follows a straightforward workflow:
Accessing the website: The system automatically navigates to the ICMBio pages listing Conservation Units by biome.
Extracting data: By analyzing the HTML of each page, relevant data is collected.
Saving the information: The extracted data is organized and saved in three different formats:
JSON: Ideal for integrations with other systems.
CSV: Perfect for analysis in tools like Excel or Google Sheets.
XLSX: A comprehensive format widely used for structured reports.
📂 The result is an accessible and customizable database that can be used by researchers, environmentalists, or anyone interested in exploring Brazil's biomes.
⚠️ Project limitations
While functional and easy to use, the system has a few limitations:
🌐 Dependency on website structure: If ICMBio changes the HTML structure or page links, the system might stop working. In such cases, the code will need updates to adapt to the changes.
🔄 Limited automation: As a basic solution, the code lacks advanced features, such as automatic detection of site changes or continuous execution on a server.
Despite these limitations, it remains a valuable tool for initial data collection.
💡 Motivation behind the project
This project was created to address a practical need: fulfilling a request from PhD Laís Carneiro, who is deepening her research on environmental conservation in Brazil. 🌎
The goal was to create an efficient way to organize the information available on the ICMBio website, facilitating research and analysis.
🚀 Why use this project?
If you’re a researcher, student, or professional interested in environmental preservation, this system is an excellent starting point for exploring data on Brazilian biomes. It offers:
✅ Speed: Automates information collection.
✅ Flexibility: Provides data in various formats.
✅ Simplicity: Easy to run and modify, even for those with limited Node.js experience.
🌟 While it’s a simple solution, it’s functional and can be expanded as needed.
🌐 How to contribute or improve?
If you’re interested in improving or adapting the code, feel free to do so! As it’s written in Node.js, it can be easily adjusted to:
🛠️ Work with other data sources.
🔄 Monitor website changes automatically.
📊 Generate more detailed reports directly in the terminal or interactive dashboards.
This project is not just a tool but also an opportunity to learn about automation, web scraping, and environmental conservation. 🌱
We hope it will be helpful to you! 💚
Repo link: https://github.com/felipelssilva/list-conservation-units
