# EU Species Legal Protection Records — EEA BISE (`nexgensignal/eu-species-legal-protection-records`) Actor

EEA BISE legal protection of European species: search by common name (any EU language), genus, EUNIS id, instrument (Habitats/Birds Directive, Bern, CITES, Bonn) or annex - with English names and genus attached. Pay per record.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/nexgensignal/eu-species-legal-protection-records.md
- **Developed by:** [NexGen Signal](https://apify.com/nexgensignal) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $33.50 / 1,000 species legal protection records

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## EU Species Legal Protection Records — EEA BISE

**Keyless. Pay per record. Each protected species resolved to the legal instruments and annex protection status that apply to it — verbatim.**

This actor turns the **European Environment Agency (EEA) Biodiversity Information System for Europe (BISE) species-legal-status dataset** into clean, per-record data — which legal instruments and annex protections apply to each of Europe's protected species. Each run reads the EEA's keyless DiscoData SQL service and delivers one row per species-legal listing, structured for conservation-law and compliance analysis, reusable with acknowledgement of the EEA, with no personal data of any kind.

### What this is, in one paragraph

Europe's protected species are covered by a web of legal instruments — the Habitats Directive, the Birds Directive, the Bern Convention, and others — each listing species under specific annexes with specific protection status. The EEA's Biodiversity Information System for Europe (BISE) compiles those into a species-legal-status dataset. This actor reads it and delivers one record per species / instrument / annex: the EUNIS species id, the legal instrument, the ANNEX and protection status carried verbatim, the legal text, and a source link. It is the LEGAL layer of Europe's species protection — which laws protect which species, and how.

### Who buys this and for what job

- **Conservation-law analysts resolving which instruments and annexes protect which species**
- **Compliance and permitting teams checking the legal protection status of a species**
- **Researchers studying the legal-protection landscape across Europe's species**
- **Data engineers** who want the BISE species-legal-status table as clean rows from a keyless source.

### EEA licence — reuse with acknowledgement

One licence rider travels on every record. EEA data may be **reused, including commercially, provided the source is acknowledged**: "Source: European Environment Agency (EEA)." Where third-party content is marked, it keeps its own terms. These are reported values and labels as filed — not a compliance verdict.

### Species / instrument / annex grain — no person data

The unit of every record is a species mapped to a legal instrument and annex — a protection line, never a person. The species is a EUNIS id and the instrument is a named law; there is no contact, assessor, or responsible-person field in the source, and none is selected or emitted. **Species-sensitivity note:** this legal-status table carries NO sensitivity or confidentiality flag on its rows (unlike the separate Article-12 bird-reporting table, which flags sensitive species with fine-grained locations); accordingly no rows are suppressed here, and the fleet respects such flags where they exist. A person-key guard runs on every record as a backstop.

### Sample output

![Sample output — EU Species Legal Protection Records — EEA BISE](https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/IXCaMKjxSmUTLHhmq/records/eu-species-legal-protection-records.png)

*Real rows from a live run of this actor (first 5 rows, selected columns).*

One full record from the same run, exactly as delivered:

```json
{
  "record_id": "8:Bern Convention:Annex II: strictly protected fauna species",
  "id_eunis": "8",
  "legal_instrument": "Bern Convention",
  "annex": "Annex II: strictly protected fauna species",
  "legal_text": "Convention on the conservation of European wildlife and natural habitats",
  "source_link": "http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/nature/WCD/Res_en.asp",
  "source": "EEA Biodiversity Information System for Europe (BISE) — species legal protection status",
  "source_url": "https://discodata.eea.europa.eu/",
  "licence": "European Environment Agency (EEA) Biodiversity Information System for Europe (BISE) — species legal protection status. Reuse is permitted, including for commercial purposes, provided the source is acknowledged: 'Source: European Environment Agency (EEA)'. Third-party content, where marked, keeps its own terms.",
  "attribution": "Source: European Environment Agency (EEA), Biodiversity Information System for Europe (BISE).",
  "disclaimer": "Protected species resolved to the legal instruments and annex protection status that apply to them, at species / instrument / annex grain from the EEA Biodiversity Information System for Europe (BISE) species-legal-status dataset. Each record names the EUNIS species id, the legal instrument (e.g. Habitats Directive, Birds Directive, Bern Convention), the ANNEX and protection status carried VERBATIM, and a source link. **Species-sensitivity note:** this legal-status table carries NO sensitivity or confidentiality flag on its rows (unlike the separate Article-12 bird-reporting table, which flags sensitive species with fine-grained locations); accordingly no rows are suppressed here, and the fleet respects such flags where they exist. Species / instrument / annex grain — species are organisms, not people; there is no contact, assessor, or responsible-person field in the source, and none is selected or emitted; a person-key guard runs on every record as a backstop.",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-25T17:34:06Z"
}
```

### Search by species and instrument

**Question:** Under which EU directives and international conventions are otters legally protected, and in which annex?

```json
{"commonNames": ["otter"], "maxRecords": 10}
```

Run on 30 Sep 2026 this matched the otter records and returned the first 10 (10 × $0.05 = $0.50 on Apify's Free plan):

| EUNIS id | Names | Instrument | Annex |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1435 | Eurasian otter; Otter | EU regulation of trade of fauna and flora | Annex A includes: All CITES Appendix I species, except where EU Member States ha |
| 1435 | Eurasian otter; Otter | CITES | Annex I: species threatened with extinction which are or may be affected by trad |
| 1435 | Eurasian otter; Otter | EU Habitats Directive | Annex II: animal and plant species of community interest whose conservation requ |
| 1435 | Eurasian otter; Otter | Bern Convention | Annex II: strictly protected fauna species |
| 1435 | Eurasian otter; Otter | EU Habitats Directive | Annex IV: animal and plant species of community interest in need of strict prote |
| 1435 | Eurasian otter; Otter | Bern Convention | Revised Annex I of Resolution 6 (1998) of the Bern Convention listing the specie |

Search options (all optional; a record must match every option you set, and several values in one option match any of them):

- **Common name** (`commonNames`) — any EU language, matched from the start of a word in EEA's vernacular-name list (so `otter` finds *Otter* and *Eurasian otter*, not *Dotterel*).
- **Genus** (`genera`) — scientific genus, e.g. `Lutra`, `Canis`, `Triturus`.
- **EUNIS species ids** (`speciesIds`) — the numeric `id_eunis`.
- **Legal instrument (contains)** (`instruments`) — e.g. `Habitats Directive`, `Birds Directive`, `Bern Convention`, `CITES`, `Bonn Convention`, `EU regulation of trade`.
- **Annex (contains)** (`annexWords`) — e.g. `Annex IV`, `strictly protected`, `Appendix I`.

Every option is sent to EEA DiscoData as part of the SQL query, so filtering happens before **Maximum records**. "No records match" (nothing charged) is a successful run; if DiscoData rejects or cannot answer the query the run fails as a source failure. With **no** search option the query is exactly the one the actor always sent.

**Fields added on 30 Sep 2026:** `english_names` (up to five English common names) and `genus`, looked up from EEA's own BISE name and taxonomy tables by `id_eunis` - the legal-status table itself carries only the numeric id. Existing fields are unchanged; a species with no English name or genus in BISE gets null.

### Pricing

| Event | Free plan | Bronze | Silver | Gold / Platinum / Diamond |
|-------|-----------|--------|--------|---------------------------|
| `species_legal_record` | $0.05 | $0.045 | $0.04 | $0.0335 |

Delivered before charged. Blocked runs and empty results cost nothing.

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|-------|------|---------|-------------|
| `maxRecords` | integer | 10 | Ceiling on records delivered and billed. |
| `commonNames`, `genera`, `speciesIds`, `instruments`, `annexWords` | optional | - | Search options - see the search section above. |

**Default changed on 30 Sep 2026:** if you leave `maxRecords` out, a run now returns up to **10** records (it was 500). Set `maxRecords` yourself to get more — the maximum is unchanged.

### Output

One JSON object per species-legal listing. Real example (values as reported):

```json
{
  "record_id": "8:Bern Convention:Annex II: strictly protected fauna species",
  "id_eunis": "8",
  "legal_instrument": "Bern Convention",
  "annex": "Annex II: strictly protected fauna species",
  "legal_text": "Convention on the conservation of European wildlife and natural habitats",
  "source_link": "http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/nature/",
  "source": "EEA Biodiversity Information System for Europe (BISE) \u2014 species legal protection status",
  "source_url": "https://discodata.eea.europa.eu/",
  "observed_at": "2026-08-25T00:00:00Z"
}
```

An unbilled `RUN_RECEIPT` records the robots check, the filters, rows seen and delivered, and whether charged equals delivered.

### Field reference

Each record is one species-legal listing. Identity: `record_id` (species id : instrument : annex) and `id_eunis`. Protection: `legal_instrument`, `annex` (verbatim), `legal_text`, and `source_link`. Provenance travels on every record: `source`, `source_url`, `licence`, `attribution`, `disclaimer`, and `observed_at`.

### How a run works

A run first re-reads the source host's robots posture from your runtime — the EEA DiscoData host — and stops at the door if that ever changes. It pages the BISE species-legal-status table (filtered to your `maxRecords` ceiling), and flattens each row to one record — carrying every value and label **verbatim**, never anything person-shaped — delivered **before** it is charged, so a blocked or empty run costs you nothing. The actor records `charge_equals_delivered` in the receipt.

### Coverage and scope

The table holds on the order of **21,147 rows**. Because each record carries the `id_eunis`, the legal instrument, and the annex, segmenting is straightforward. Pull one slice, or the whole table to seed a warehouse.

### Working with the data

The legal statuses are a protection map, and the fields make them queryable. Because every record pairs an `id_eunis` with a `legal_instrument` and `annex`, an analyst can list every instrument that protects a species, or every species an instrument or annex covers, and the `legal_text` and `source_link` carry the instrument's own reference so the protection can be traced back to the law. The EUNIS id gives a stable species key for joining to reference taxonomies rather than matching on names.

### Identifiers and joins

Every record carries the `id_eunis`, keying each legal-protection listing to the protected-site species-inventory cell (where the species occurs), to the conservation-status cells, and to EUNIS reference taxonomies — so a species' legal protection can be read against where it lives and how it is faring, on a shared identifier.

### Legal protection versus status versus occurrence

A species has three distinct dimensions in Europe's reporting: WHERE it occurs (the site inventories), HOW it is faring (the conservation-status cells), and WHICH LAWS protect it (this cell). Keeping the legal layer as its own actor means a buyer doing conservation-law or permitting work pulls the instrument-and-annex rows directly, at species/instrument/annex grain, and joins back on the EUNIS id when occurrence or status is also needed — the legal picture, cleanly separated from the ecological one.

### Cost guidance

One `species_legal_record` per delivered row: cost = rows delivered × your plan's per-record price. 1,000 rows is **$50** (Free) / **$33.50** (Gold).

### Honest limitations

- **As reported.** Values, labels, and flags are as filed; this actor reformats, it does not audit or recompute.
- **A label, not a verdict.** These are reported classifications and outcomes, not an independent compliance or conservation assessment.
- **Acknowledge the EEA.** The acknowledgement travels on every record.
- **No person data** of any kind.

### Differentiation

It is distinct from the conservation-status cells (how a species or habitat is faring) and the protected-site inventories (where a species occurs) — this cell carries the LEGAL protection (instruments and annexes); legal protection vs condition vs occurrence. Its specific job is the **BISE species legal protection status**.

### The NexGen Signal family

Part of the NexGen Signal family of pay-per-record data products:

- [EU Habitat Conservation Status Records — EEA BISE](https://apify.com/nexgensignal/eu-habitat-conservation-status-records)
- [EU Protected Site Negative Impact Records — EEA BISE](https://apify.com/nexgensignal/eu-protected-site-negative-impact-records)
- [EU Species Legal Protection Records — EEA BISE](https://apify.com/nexgensignal/eu-species-legal-protection-records)
- [EU Protected Site Species Inventory Records — EEA BISE](https://apify.com/nexgensignal/eu-protected-site-species-inventory-records)
- [EU Protected Site Habitat Inventory Records — EEA BISE](https://apify.com/nexgensignal/eu-protected-site-habitat-inventory-records)

*Source: European Environment Agency (EEA), Biodiversity Information System for Europe (BISE) (discodata.eea.europa.eu). EEA data may be reused, including commercially, provided the source is acknowledged: "Source: European Environment Agency (EEA)"; marked third-party content keeps its own terms. Species / instrument / annex grain; the species is a EUNIS id and the instrument is a named law; no sensitivity flag exists on this table so no rows are suppressed; no contact/assessor/responsible-person field selected or emitted. No natural-person data of any kind. Values and labels as filed, not a compliance verdict.*

# Actor input Schema

## `commonNames` (type: `array`):

A common name in any EU language, matched from the start of a word, e.g. <code>otter</code>, <code>wolf</code>, <code>great crested newt</code>, <code>Fischotter</code>.

## `genera` (type: `array`):

Scientific genus, e.g. <code>Lutra</code>, <code>Canis</code>, <code>Triturus</code>.

## `speciesIds` (type: `array`):

Numeric ids as in <code>id_eunis</code>, e.g. <code>1435</code>.

## `instruments` (type: `array`):

e.g. <code>Habitats Directive</code>, <code>Birds Directive</code>, <code>Bern Convention</code>, <code>CITES</code>, <code>Bonn Convention</code>.

## `annexWords` (type: `array`):

Words in the annex text, e.g. <code>Annex IV</code>, <code>strictly protected</code>.

## `maxRecords` (type: `integer`):

Maximum records delivered and billed.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "commonNames": [
    "otter"
  ],
  "maxRecords": 10
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

Delivered records.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "commonNames": [
        "otter"
    ],
    "maxRecords": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("nexgensignal/eu-species-legal-protection-records").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "commonNames": ["otter"],
    "maxRecords": 10,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("nexgensignal/eu-species-legal-protection-records").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "commonNames": [
    "otter"
  ],
  "maxRecords": 10
}' |
apify call nexgensignal/eu-species-legal-protection-records --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,nexgensignal/eu-species-legal-protection-records"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/q1sLyc7dzyozsRyAi/builds/1n0a30l9fTJQUJThE/openapi.json