What is TradeMapper?

TradeMapper is an interactive browser-based tool developed by TRAFFIC to visualise wildlife trade data quickly and easily. TradeMapper can be used both to analyse data, and also create attractive maps for inclusion in reports and presentations.

Trade flow is depicted by arrows (wider arrows show larger trade volume) and coloured points which represent the role of countries along the route (origin, exporter, transit, importer). You can investigate the data by zooming (scroll wheel), panning (drag) the map, and filtering the data. Map layers (polygons, lines, points) can be added to give your trade data context. You can map trade data between countries, air/sea ports, and using specific GIS coordinates.

TradeMapper is a tool to help analyse and visualise data. However it is essential that you recognise the limitations and caveats associated with your dataset, and keep this in mind when interpreting the map.

Users can also use TradeMapper to visualise non-wildlife flow data such as flows of investments or people.

TradeMapper was initially created by Willow Outhwaite (formerly TRAFFIC) and Paul Roberts (formerly WWF-UK). TRAFFIC was developed by Aptivate with the generous support of WWF-UK and Arcadia, a Charitable Fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin.