Organization: Inter-American Biodiversity Information Network (IABIN)
Project Location: The American Neotropics
Web address: www.iabin.net
Title of Grant: “Enhancing Knowledge for Establishing Ecosystem Conservation Priorities in the Neotropics by Integrating Biodiversity and Geospatial Data”
Grant Amount: $200,000 over 2 years
Principal Investigator: Jesús Ugalde
Organization Background:
The Inter-American Biodiversity Information Network (IABIN) was created at the Santa Cruz, Environmental Summit in 1996 to serve as an internet-based forum to foster technical collaboration and coordination among countries of the Americas in collection, sharing, and use of biodiversity information relevant to decision-making on natural resources management and conservation, and education to promote sustainable development in the region. This mission is made operational through the development of five Thematic Networks (Species and Specimens, Ecosystems, Invasive Species, Pollinators, and Protected Areas) supported by the Geospatial Network, an IABIN Catalog Service with search and retrieval capabilities. The Thematic Networks provide access to information, coordinate technological developments, build capacity for information exchange, and facilitate inclusion of biodiversity themes in national agendas.
Grant Description:
Building on the current development of the Inter-American Biodiversity Information Network, the project will address the need to make available scientifically sound and timely biodiversity information to support design and implementation of adequate environmental policies by combining data and information generated through the five IABIN Thematic Areas with geospatial data. This will allow for development of decision-support, user-friendly tools, applications, and information products. Initially IABIN will make available an extensive collection of valuable digitized data and will promote the digitization of new data through Data Digitizing Grants and will georeference those collections in need of it by using a gazetteer. Another area will be promotion of applications and activities that support the establishment of ecosystem conservation priorities. At first, IABIN will focus on existing plant species and bats data in Mesoamerican natural history collections and on geospatial data for the region, integrated through the IABIN Geospatial Network. The project will integrate a) specimen and observation records with species data, including images b) data on invasive species and pollinators with socioeconomic data and c) geospatial data to be analyzed in an ecosystem and protected areas context for conservation and sustainable development planning purposes.
The Problem:
More than 100,000 species of plants and animals had become extinct in the last five years. Researchers in highly biodiverse regions such as the neotropics are working to understand species and the complex relationships they have with specific habitats and ecosystems in order to support conservation and sustainability. The data collected in these efforts is often housed in museum collections that are largely inaccessible to the international conservation research community. This has prompted governments and conservation organizations to recognize that biodiversity conservation requires scientifically sound and timely biodiversity information to support design and implementation of environmental policies and programs. To achieve this, it is necessary to create and use information systems capable of managing diverse data, including biological, ecological, socio-economic, and geospatial in an integrated and interoperable manner.
The Solution:
This project will address the need to make available scientifically sound and timely biodiversity information to support design and implementation of adequate environmental policies by combining data and information generated through the five IABIN Thematic Areas with geospatial data that will allow for development of decision-support tools and applications. IABIN will initiate the integration of the information by initially focusing on making available an extensive collection of valuable digitized data and promoting the digitization of new data through Data Digitizing Grants and to georeference those collections in need of it by using a gazetteer. The project will also focus in promoting applications and activities that support the establishment of ecosystem conservation priorities. Thus, the goals of this effort are as follows:
- To enhance the availability and usability of existing biodiversity information in Mesoamerica
- To promote access to interdisciplinary applications of this information for acquiring new knowledge and for improving decision-making on conservation
- To support the establishment of ecosystem conservation priorities in the region
- To validate the project with the view to expand it to other regions in the Americas
Global Impact:
This project is novel in the region in that it will offer the possibility to integrate a) specimen and observation records with species data, including images b) data on invasive species and pollinators with socioeconomic data and c) geospatial data to be analyzed in an ecosystem and protected areas context for conservation and sustainable development planning purposes. The conversion of existing extensive data into a digital, publically available, user-friendly system enhances the cyberinfrastructure for the neotropical research community, conservationists, and decision-makers.
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