I would like a data set of images of data deficient or endangered NZ biota that are held by the government. This data set would contain images that are held by the government that are either in the public domain or are licensed under either the Creative Commons Attribution or Attribution/Share Alike licence and a binomial species name accompanying each image. Ideally my preferred standard would be image files that are a minimum of 3000 pixels and in a tiff format. I recognise that that standard may be difficult to achieve and would gladly accept a lower standard if necessary.

I think this data set would solve the general problem of the public not being able to access reusable images of data deficient and endangered species of New Zealand. My specific problem is that I am currently attempting to update Wikipedia articles relating to data deficient and endangered NZ species to assist with the education of the general public and help citizen scientists and scientists to properly identify and gather data on these species. I am having extreme difficulty in finding appropriately licensed images that I can upload onto the Wikimedia Commons website for use in Wikipedia to assist with this. Given that Wikipedia is the Internets largest and most popular general reference work and that it tends to be the first site used when researching a topic, I believe this hinders the dissemination of information about New Zealand biodiversity.

Opening this data under either the Creative Commons Attribution or Attribution/Share Alike licence would make it possible for people to copy, use and modify any of the images freely as long as they follow the terms specified in the licence.

Specifically it would allow me and other editors to use these images in Wikipedia articles about New Zealand species. As Wikimedia Commons is free, popular and easy to use, once the images are loaded into it would allow easy access to other people and groups such as schools, universities, conservation groups etc the world over to make use of these images in their work and would help to publicise and educate people about New Zealand biodiversity and the need to protect it.