Import GBIF data
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is an international open data infrastructure that allows anyone, anywhere to access data about all types of life on Earth, shared across national boundaries via the Internet. It offers free and open access to a tremendous amount of biodiversity data.
There are various ways to import GBIF data, including directly from the website as comma delimited file (csv), using the GBIF API and for example using R or Python packages. On the GBIF website you’ll find long list of tools that work with GBIF data.
Download GBIF in R: A while back, I wrote a short example how to download GBIF data using the rgbif package in R, and subsequently import it in a GRASS GIS database. Because of some changes in the syntax of the functions used and the maturation of the sf spatial data format, an update was very much due. You can find the update here.
Download GBIF in QGIS:I also wrote up a short tutorial about how to import GBIF data in QGIS, using the GBIF Occurrences plugin, developed by Nicolas Noé from the Belgian Biodiversity Platform. You can find the tutorial here.