The collection will consist of historic and current materials and be digitally mastered. In cases where rare film originals need to be preserved, arrangements will be made with other organisations which have special archiving conditions.

The components of ARKive are -

1. The Species Holdings: A selection of moving images, photographs and sounds for each species (a kind of audio-visual "time-capsule" or Doomsday Book). There are two strands to the Species Holdings:

1. the world's endangered species, in accordance with the IUCN's Red Lists,
2. a comprehensive record of British biodiversity ie the "British Chapter". Priority will be given to this country's endangered plants and animals, but images and recordings of more common species will also be archived."

2. Complete productions (ie a library of full length films, TV programmes, videos) deemed to be of scientific and historical importance.
3. An underlying database detailing the location and copyright details of all known collections of natural history images and recordings.
4. Filmed interviews with pioneering wildlife filmmakers and those who have made major contributions to this industry.
5. A collection of specialist books and journals about wildlife filmmaking, photography and the history of wildlife radio and television.