Biodiversity Information and informatics for Cooperation and Development
Charles Kahindo¹, Alex Asase², Jean Ganglo³, Frank Oguya^4, Innocent Akampurira⁵, Patricia Mergen⁶, Eric Chenin⁷, Elizabeth Arnaud<sup>8

1</sup> UOB, Université Officielle de Bukavu, DR Congo, ckahindo[at]yahoo.com;
² GBIF node manager in Ghana;
³ GBIF node manager in Benin;
⁴ GBIF node manager in Kenya;
⁵ GBIF node manager in Uganda;
⁶ Royal Museum For Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium;
⁷ Centre IRD d'Orléans, Sud Experts Plantes, France;
⁸ Bioversity International, Rome, Italy

Many developing or emergent countries maintain the most biodiversity‐rich environments and face extensive challenges in balancing socio‐economic development with conservation practices.

Today, governments are becoming more aware of the importance of biodiversity and the need to protect natural habitats. Biodiversity information plays an important role in supporting conservation‐related decision‐making, particularly with regard to land planning and use and the designation of protected areas.

Access to useful biodiversity information is influenced by many factors, ranging from the proper collection of specimens and observation in the field to ensuring collected information is available online using appropriate standards and formats for various target users.

• Challenges to biodiversity information access include:
• Infrastructure to enable large‐scale digitalization and related specimens preservation
• Limited funding with regard to the scope and scale of project objectives
• Involvement of relevant local policy‐makers
• Available means for applying good governance guidelines
• Active involvement of local populations
• Capacity of national institutions.

Overall enhancement of local capacity and a train the trainers network are needed to improve access to biodiversity information. GBIF CEPDEC (Capacity Enhancement Programme for Developing Countries) projects, as well as multiple National Cooperation and Development Ministries and International Agencies have invested in improving the use and knowledge base of biodiversity information.

Based on working group discussions at the TDWG 2009 meeting, participants suggested that a new focus group on Biodiversity Information for Cooperation and Development be established and that TDWG play an active role in its development.

The objective of this working session will, therefore, be to introduce this idea and discuss possible alternative solutions, within and across regions.

Presentations of exemplar projects in the domain have been selected and speakers identified, but the session remains open to additional contributors and participants.

Provisional session schedule:

• Introduction and objectives (Elizabeth Arnaud)
• Exemplar projects:
  

_{CEPDEC‐ Sud‐Expert Plant (Eric Chenin)
Biodiversity information in developing countries: opportunities and challenges for promoting TDWG standards in Africa And the CABIN project (Charles Kahindo)
GBIF tools deployment and trainings in Benin, Ghana and Kenya,
GBIF‐Tanzania, training in Mauritania
Projects and tools promoted by Bioversity International and partners to support capacity building in information management on conservation and uses
Other participants interested to intervene (i.e., PI Lake Victoria Basin Biodiversity Informatics (LAVIBI) project.}

• Discussion on the scope and objectives of the focus group.

Session outcome: A network of members available to establish the new TDWG focus group, to produce the texts for a Charter and coordinate future discussions and activities in order to find synergies and exchange advice and lessons learned. This will support the ultimate goal of the better understanding and application of biodiversity information for cooperation and development.