REPORT OF THE FIRST COUNCIL MEETING  
FOR THE  
INTER-AMERICAN BIODIVERSITY INFORMATION NETWORK (IABIN)

December 13-14, 1999  
Miami, Florida, USA

1. BACKGROUND

The Inter-American Biodiversity Information Network (IABIN) is an initiative of the 1996 Summit of the Americas that seeks to promote compatible means of collection, communication, and exchange of biodiversity information relevant to decision-making and education.  After a series of meetings of experts, the network was established at the Technical Conference for Implementation of IABIN, held by the Brazilian government on April of 1999.  The aim of that meeting was to build consensus and support on the best strategy to launch the pilot phase of IABIN.  At that meeting, participants examined governance models for the network and agreed on a basic governance structure for IABIN, which includes the following:

·        A Council that provides direction to IABIN.

·        An Executive Committee that executes the directions of the Council.

·        Technical Working Groups that address operational issues of the network.

·        A Hub that provides secretariat support to IABIN.

·        A political host, the Organization of American States (OAS), that serves as the diplomatic conduit for IABIN.

Recommendations on the IABIN governance structure were sent to the Inter-American Committee on Sustainable Development (CIDS) of the OAS for endorsement.  On October of 1999, CIDS passed a resolution endorsing IABIN and encouraging the IABIN Council to meet soon.  In response to the OAS resolution, the U.S. Geological Survey hosted the First Council Meeting for IABIN on December 13-14, 1999 in Miami, Florida.  This meeting represented an important milestone in implementing IABIN, as it marked the official establishment of an IABIN Council, selection of an IABIN Executive Committee and adoption of Rules of Procedure for IABIN.  Information about the First Council Meeting for IABIN can be found at <http://www.iabin.net/council/>.

2. PARTICIPANTS

Representatives from 18 countries and 12 international organizations participated in the First Council Meeting for IABIN.  A list of participants can be found at the international IABIN web site <http://www.iabin.net/council/attendee>.

3. DOCUMENTS FOR THE MEETING

In preparation for the First Council Meeting, the following documents were distributed to IABIN focal points and observers for their review prior to the meeting:

·        Background Paper - provides a historical perspective on the establishment of IABIN.

·        Financial Challenge for IABIN - provides a summary of past funding for IABIN and an update on the financial status of the network for the year 2000.

·        IABIN Medium-Term Work Plan - submitted to the IABIN Interim Executive Committee on June 1999, this document outlines a two-year work plan for IABIN.

·        Draft Rules of Procedure for IABIN - a document with proposed rules of procedure for IABIN.

·        Draft Criteria for Membership of Non-Governmental, International and Regional Organizations in the IABIN Council - a document listing criteria for selecting those organizations, besides national focal points, that should be invited to become members of the IABIN Council.

·        Draft Criteria for Hub Selection - a document listing criteria for selection of a Hub.

These documents served as the basis for the discussions and decisions taken at the First Council Meeting for IABIN.

4. RESULTS OF THE MEETING

The adopted agenda for the First Council Meeting can be found at <http://www.iabin.net/council/agenda>.  This report highlights the main results of the meeting, according to the discussions and decisions taken by the IABIN Council in Miami.

4.1  Election of Council Chair and Vice-Chair

The Council elected Ms. Gladys Cotter, U.S. focal point for IABIN, as Chair of the IABIN Council.  Dr. Elaine Fisher, focal point from Jamaica, was elected as Vice-Chair of the Council.  Both the Chair and Vice-Chair will be serving for a 3-year term.

4.2  Rules of Procedure

The IABIN Council discussed and revised the draft rules of procedure for IABIN.  The revised document titled Rules of Procedure for the Inter-American Biodiversity Information Network (IABIN) was adopted at the meeting.  This document provides guidance and an overview of IABIN’s objectives and governance infrastructure.  Some of the issues discussed at the meeting will need to be addressed by the IABIN Council at a later time.  These include:

·        Definition of who are the users of IABIN information.

·        Form of presentation of the information that will circulate through the network (e.g. basic vs. processed form).

·        Development of a biodiversity information management strategy for the hemisphere.

·        Development of IABIN policies on data quality control.

·        Development of a mechanism to keeps focal points updated on their countries’ participation in IABIN projects.

·        Direct participation of data providers (e.g. museums, herbaria, etc.) in IABIN.

In view of the discussions on participation of data providers in IABIN, the Council will consider establishing a technical working group to address the issues of how to incorporate into IABIN those institutions that have raw data and how to create incentives for their participation in the network.

The Council also revised and adopted the document titled Criteria for Membership of Non-governmental, International and Regional Organizations in the IABIN Council, which provides broad criteria for incorporation of organizations, other than national focal points, into the IABIN Council.  They agreed to annex this document to the Rules of Procedure for IABIN.

Recognizing the need for the development of a process and guidelines for inviting other organizations to become members of the Council, the IABIN focal points requested the assistance of inter-governmental / non-governmental organizations in developing a procedure for selecting and appointing new members to the Council.  The inter-governmental / non-governmental organizations that attended the First Council Meeting for IABIN as observers, will establish a working group to develop a process for nominating members and discuss issues related to Council membership (e.g. term of membership, etc.).  These inter-governmental / non-governmental organizations selected Marcos Silva, of the North American Biodiversity Information Network (NABIN), as that working group chair and their representative on the IABIN Council for the year 2000.

The adopted Rules of Procedure, including the annexed criteria for membership of other organizations in the IABIN Council, are found in Appendix 1 of this report.

4.3  Criteria for Hub Selection

Members of the IABIN Council agreed to review individually the Draft Criteria for Hub Selection and provide their comments and revisions electronically to the Council Chair at the following e-mail address: iabinchair@usgs.gov.  The Draft Criteria for Hub Selection are found in Appendix 2 of this report.

4.4  Election of an Executive Committee

The IABIN Council agreed that the Executive Committee would be composed of the following members:

·        The Council Chair, who will be the Chair of the Executive Committee

·        The Council Vice-Chair

·        Seven members elected at large according to the following criteria:
-         governmental geographical representation
-         inclusion of up to two non-governmental / inter-governmental representatives
-         interest and commitment

·        An OAS representative, with voice but no vote.

·        The Executive Secretary of the IABIN Hub (when selected), with voice but no vote.

Members of the Executive Committee will serve for 3-year terms, staggered on a rotational basis with some members changing each year.  The first elected Executive Committee will have members with one- and two-year terms to allow for rotation of members in subsequent years.

On December 14, 1999, the IABIN Council elected the first Executive Committee for IABIN.  This Executive Committee consists of the following members:

4.5 Establishment of Working Groups

Given the lack of funding for IABIN in fiscal year 2000, the Council established two Working Groups to address financial and technical issues for the network and prepare proposals to funding organizations.  The first one, the Long-Term Sustainability Working Group, will look at the issue of long-term sustainability for IABIN and prepare proposals that address the development of a sustainability strategy for the network.  The second Working Group, the Technical Work Plan Working Group, will work on coordination and development of technical projects for IABIN, help determine what contributes to the overall development of the network, and prepare proposals for submission to funding organizations such as the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the OAS.

The Long-Term Sustainability Working Group will:

·        Prepare a US AID proposal for the development of a financial sustainability strategy for IABIN.

·        Look into sources of funding (e.g. foundations, international organizations, etc.) for ongoing IABIN operations.

·        Develop a communication strategy for IABIN.

The following volunteers will constitute the Long-Term Sustainability Working Group:

U.S. (Barbara Bauldock)
Jamaica (Elaine Fisher)
Canada (Guy Rochon)
Brazil (Maria Luisa Gastal)
OAS (Bernhard Griesinger)
IBIN (Preston Hardison)
NABIN ( Marcos Silva)
TNC / ABI (Xavier Silva) 

The Technical Work Plan Working Group will define common network elements that promote the development of IABIN.  This working group will examine the following approaches as options for submission of proposals to funding organizations:

·        Submit several proposals from individual countries based on projects that emerge as priorities, with IABIN serving as the interconnecting network component to thematic projects.

·        Submit a common proposal from IABIN as a region, which will serve as an umbrella for various other projects.

The Technical Work Plan Working Group will also:

·        Prepare a proposal for submission to the GEF.  It was recommended that IABIN concentrates on the preparation of a Block B proposal (up to $350,000) for the study and definition of a larger Block E (> $750,000) proposal.

-         This proposal should show the value of information sharing at a hemispheric level in support of the goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity: (1) conservation of nature, (2) sustainable use, and (3) benefit sharing.

-         The proposal should present IABIN as an example of how to implement the Clearing-House Mechanism on a regional basis.

·        Obtain assistance and support from the OAS in the preparation and submission of the GEF proposal.

·        Select the implementing agency for submission of the GEF proposal.  It was noted that considerable discussion relating to an IABIN GEF proposal has already been held with the World Bank, the likely implementing agency.  Discussions with them should continue.

·        Prepare an OAS proposal or proposals.  These proposals should:

-         Present project-oriented activities with concrete results to be accomplished in one year.

-         Be regional in scope and include more than 3 participant countries.

-         Not use the concept of an on-going activity.

The following volunteers will constitute the Technical Work Plan Working Group:

Brazil (Vanderlei Canhos)
U.S. (provide assistance in Washington: Bonnie Carroll / Elizabeth Martin)
Canada (Guy Rochon)
Colombia (Juan Carlos Bello / Cristian Samper)
OAS (Jorge Rucks)
TNC / ABI (Xavier Silva)
NABIN (Marcos Silva)

4.6  Projects of Interest to IABIN Participants

Meeting participants provided project ideas of potential interest to IABIN.  These ideas will be prioritized according to IABIN’s objectives and the commitment of countries or organizations to lead specific projects.  The table that follows captures these ideas:

During the discussions on this topic, meeting participants stressed the need to include a capacity building component on information management assets into IABIN projects and to define information elements that will help local decision-makers.

4.7  IABIN Work Plan for the year 2000

Meeting participants discussed the steps that will need to be taken this year in order for IABIN to move forward.  These are:

5. FOLLOW-ON ACTIVITIES

Both the Long-Term Sustainability Working Group and the Technical Work Plan Working Group for IABIN are planning to meet in the first half of 2000 to move forward the IABIN agenda.  Among the major items to be discussed are:

·        Preparation of IABIN proposals to funding organizations such as the GEF, OAS and USAID to secure funding for future IABIN activities and operations.

·        Development of a long-term sustainability strategy for IABIN.

·        Selection of technical pilot projects that will go forward in the year 2000 under the aegis of IABIN.

IABIN Council members and observers are encouraged to assist in the implementation of IABIN by promoting IABIN at national meetings, participating actively in the development of IABIN activities, assisting in the search for potential sources of funding, and encouraging participation of national technical experts in the IABIN pilot projects.

APPENDIX 1: Rules of Procedure for the Inter-American Biodiversity Information Network (IABIN)