Privacy
We use Plausible Analytics to store and manage Florabase’s usage data. Plausible Analytics stores information about your use of Florabase according to its data policy. This data policy outlines the exact statistics being tracked, but please note that your personal data is not collected, and you cannot be tracked across the Internet through this service.
The statistics tracked by Plausible Analytics are given to every web server you visit on the Internet, and we are no different. They tell us what areas of Florabase are popular or unpopular and allow us to improve the site over time to better meet your needs. Users can be identified by site username in our server logs, but these are not tracked by Plausible Analytics.
If you have an account with us, we ask you to provide more information to us so that we can contact you, and also to allow you to retrieve your account in the event you forget your password. The information we collect is listed on the Sign Up form. Information that is sensitive, particularly your password, your secret question and your secret answer are all stored in a manner that makes them prohibitively difficult to read even with direct access to the database. This information will be used only for the purpose for which you have provided it, including to communicate with you by email. We currently use Mailchimp to manage our email mailing list, and we may occasionally send you communications by email. Your e-mail address and other personal details are confidential. We will not use or disclose them to any third party except for the purpose of managing our communications with you, nor will you get any unsolicited bulk e-mail (also known as “spam”) with any commercial offers, advertisements or newsletters.
Information sent to Florabase via e-mail or via feedback forms on this site will be retained in a directly readable format for only as long as is necessary to maintain a business relationship with you. Such correspondence will be retained in an archival format for future reference in accordance with the Western Australian State Records Act (2000) and the Department’s Record Management Procedures. It will not be passed to third parties without approval by the sender.
Florabase uses local storage to implement some aspects of its user interface, and our use of these follows the same general guidelines above.
This Privacy Statement was updated on 10 August 2023.
Copyright
Publication or other use of information from Florabase is unauthorised unless that use conforms to the policy set out below.
“Fair use” guidelines for the reproduction of Florabase information
If your project or interest in re-using Florabase information conforms to the following “fair use” guidelines you do not need to ask our permission.
- It has a demonstrable benefit to conservation of the Western Australian biota;
- The information will be used in a non-profit manner, e.g. a report/assignment/thesis/software for an educational institution, or similar materials within Government;
- For descriptive text up to ten species fact pages of text, and for images (including photographs and maps) up to three images, will be used in the whole project;
- The information will be used in a commercial setting but it does not form a substantial part of the final document, i.e. it is for a minor illustrative purpose;
- The images will be used as-is — cropping is not permitted;
- The information will not be used in a web site. Direct use in external web sites is not permitted. See our policy on linking for more information;
- A complete citation of Florabase (as noted in the footer of every page) should appear in your materials;
The contributor of each map, photograph and textual item should be acknowledged, the following examples set out the preferred wording. The acknowledgement should appear underneath the item:
For photographs
Photography by C. Hortin & J. Hooper. Image used with the permission of the Western Australian Herbarium, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (https://florabase.dbca.wa.gov.au/help/copyright). Accessed on 24 December 2024.
For maps
Image used with the permission of the Western Australian Herbarium, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (https://florabase.dbca.wa.gov.au/help/copyright). Accessed on 24 December 2024.
For descriptive text
Descriptions by the Western Australian Herbarium, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. Text used with permission (https://florabase.dbca.wa.gov.au/help/copyright). Accessed on 24 December 2024.
The current date is included so that users of your information can see when it was printed, and return to Florabase for the most up-to-date information. Reload this page if the current date is not shown.
Guidelines for other uses of Florabase information
When a project does not fit the “fair use” guidelines (above), written permission must be obtained from the Western Australian Herbarium, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. Written permission should contain the following information. The request should be received (and acknowledged by Herbarium staff) a month before the project’s deadline:
- A request is made in writing stating the following information:
- Contact details for the project officer;
- The project’s title and goals;
- The project’s deadline;
- The size, format and type of presentation for the project, for example: A4 printed posters;
- The type of information being requested;
- A list of species for which information is requested.
- Postal address:
Western Australian Herbarium,
Locked Bag 104,
Bentley Delivery Centre, WA 6983
Australia - Email can be sent using our copyright permission form.
Note: We do not provide access to high resolution source images as most of those in our collection were donated on the proviso that they only be used in Florabase. To avoid complications associated with this and to enable requests to be processed relatively quickly, we provide contact details for those photographers whose details we have on file and that have taken a photo of the requested species. It is then up to the project officer to make arrangements with the photographer for access to the image and any payment that may be requested.
Linking
Links between web sites are the major determining factor for how visible a site is to the general public. We seek to enhance our interaction with other sites wherever possible so that both Florabase and external sites benefit from the visibility generated in search engines.
- Links to Florabase from external sites are welcomed, including pages representing the result of small- to medium-sized searches. These should be constructed using the <a> tag;
- It is not considered appropriate to:
- Link directly to a photograph or map file by determining its URL and using it to embed the asset in an external site;
- Copy photograph or map files from the Florabase server with the aim of serving those assets from an external site;
- Embed a portion of Florabase in a HTML frame.
Misuse
It is against the terms of use of this site to send specially-constructed requests to attempt to gain control of the server. Use of the site is logged and server logs will be handed to authorities if requested.
Disclaimer
The data presented in Florabase is generally the most current and authoritative scientific information available on the taxonomy of the West Australian flora. The Western Australian Herbarium, updates name and specimen records daily, while images and descriptive text are maintained and updated regularly.
While we aim to ensure that the information in our databases is validated on entry, maintained, updated and corrected, errors can still occur, so please read the Disclaimer of Liability below. Additionally, the absence of a record should not be taken to mean flora is necessarily absent from an area.
The most common significant errors will be the mis-identification of specimens and incorrect geocodes, and together with missing data will be most apparent when inspecting the distribution maps generated from our specimen database.
Other inconsistencies may occur due to the process of taxonomic change and may be apparent particularly in the descriptive information for recently re-circumscribed taxa. However, core descriptive data for every taxon is maintained, and we believe our current systems are a major improvement on the static nature of books.
We encourage Florabase users to notify us of errors they have found, or contribute vouchered specimens where gaps in our documentation of species distributions are obvious to them.
There is a link to a correction form on each search results page. Please send us any comments about the information presented via these correction forms.
The Convention on Biological Diversity noted the need to make biodiversity data available despite the presence of imperfections, rather than holding back information until more polished products were completed. We support this view and therefore make these datasets available in their present form as a reference service for users.
DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY: No guarantees or warranty, expressed or implied, including warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, are made as to the currency, accuracy, quality, completeness, availability or usefulness of data, information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, provided through this service, and no responsibility or legal liability is assumed for any damages or inconvenience arising from its use.