The NZOR project is a three year project which commenced on 1 March 2009, to create New Zealand Organisms Register. The aim is to create an accurate, authoritative, comprehensive and continuously updated catalogue of taxonomic names of all New Zealand biota and other taxa of importance to New Zealand.

The project is currently focused on the establishment of required governance structures, and initial data provider and end user needs analysis.

The NZOR project is funded by the Terrestrial and Freshwater Biodiversity Information System (TFBIS) Programme.

Landcare Research has been contracted by TFBIS to develop and populate NZOR in collaboration with NIWA, Te Papa, The Department of Conservation, MAF Biosecurity, ERMA, the Ministry of Fisheries, the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology, Local Government agencies, museums, universities and NGOs.

NZOR will also be connected internationally as Landcare Research is a partner in a new EU Framework 7 program (4D4Life), managed by Species2000, and funded to support the completion of the global Catalogue of Life through an international network of regional data providers. NZOR is the proposed regional provider for New Zealand. Species 2000 aggregates taxonomic data from many global taxonomic databases and already maintains some taxonomic information for 1.2 million organisms, or about half of those so far described. The development of an international network of regional data providers will complete the task.