An international mechanism is needed to make biodiversity data and information accessible worldwide. Attempts to integrate parts of the biological and ecological data matrix are occurring in a handful of projects (e.g., INBio in Costa Rica, Diversitas [an ICSU-UNESCO program for biodiversity research], and Species 2000), but these efforts need to be augmented and coordinated. The existence of such a mechanism will produce many economic and social benefits. For example, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) obligates nations to implement provisions relating to conservation, use and equitable sharing of biodiversity. A scientific information resource that could facilitate fulfillment of these obligations is greatly needed. Such a resource will also contribute to biotechnology and bioengineering, and therefore will be a central element in sustainable development. Because biodiversity is one of the primary measures of environmental impact, sound scientific information about it provides a way of determining whether development in a particular region is actually sustainable.
The Subgroup on Biodiversity Informatics recommends that the governments of OECD Member countries establish and support a distributed system of interlinked and interoperable modules (databases, software and networking tools, search engines, analytical algorithms, etc.) that together will form a Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). This facility will enable users to navigate
and put to use vast quantities of biodiversity information, thereby advancing scientific research in areas such as agriculture, biomedicine, biotechnology, environmental management, pest control, health, education, and conservation, among others; serving the economic and quality-of-life interests of society; and providing a basis from which knowledge of the natural world can grow rapidly, in a manner that avoids duplication of effort and expenditure.
This Facility will be distributed, while encouraging co-operation and coherence; global in scale, though implemented nationally and regionally; and open to participation and benefit by all countries, while having the majority of its support provided by those countries that have the greatest financial, scientific, and technical capacities to do so.
The Subgroup also recommends that governments accelerate efforts to compile data about living organisms and ecosystems, especially those whose existence is threatened and those of potential e...
The Subgroup on Biodiversity Informatics recommends that the governments of OECD Member countries establish and support a distributed system of interlinked and interoperable modules (databases, software and networking tools, search engines, analytical algorithms, etc.) that together will form a Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). This facility will enable users to navigate
and put to use vast quantities of biodiversity information, thereby advancing scientific research in areas such as agriculture, biomedicine, biotechnology, environmental management, pest control, health, education, and conservation, among others; serving the economic and quality-of-life interests of society; and providing a basis from which knowledge of the natural world can grow rapidly, in a manner that avoids duplication of effort and expenditure.
This Facility will be distributed, while encouraging co-operation and coherence; global in scale, though implemented nationally and regionally; and open to participation and benefit by all countries, while having the majority of its support provided by those countries that have the greatest financial, scientific, and technical capacities to do so.
The Subgroup also recommends that governments accelerate efforts to compile data about living organisms and ecosystems, especially those whose existence is threatened and those of potential e...