With the programme QGIS I created two choropleth maps, a type of thematic map that uses varying shades of colour to depict data values across different geographic regions. It visualizes quantitative, enumerated, and normalized data and allows viewers to quickly identify patterns and trends. Commonly used in media due to its simplicity, this type of map is ideal for representing data linked to political jurisdictions, like SDG indicators.

Using open source data from the Open SDG Data Hub, I created two maps visualizing different aspect of Sustainable Development Goal 15 – Life on Land. The left map describes the percentage of forest to total land area. Since forests are crucial in mitigating climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in their biomass or soils, knowing the total area of forests per country is very important. The right map depictures the average proportion of terrestrial Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) covered by protected areas. I chose to compare these two indicators with each other because the main global biodiversity hotspots are found in the rain forest. What is more biodiversity is a crucial topic not only with respect to climate change but also to the development of the earth and ecosystems in the future.

To create an interactive webmap and the slider that enables the interactive and direct comparison, I imported the file to ESRI online, and created a comparison webmap. This makes it possible for the viewer to move the slider to see more of one or the other map.