Fourth Council Meeting of the Inter-American Biodiversity Information
Network (IABIN)
From April 6-8, biodiversity information experts and stakeholders from the
Americas met in Panama to participate in the Fourth Council Meeting of IABIN.
In addition to 24 national Focal Points for IABIN, participants included representatives
from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, international and national
non-government organizations, academic institutions, and the private sector.
The enthusiasm of the new Secretariat staff was evident during this successful
and very productive meeting. Participants reaffirmed that scientific knowledge
and technological know-how have a vital role in the conservation of biological
diversity in the Western Hemisphere. They agreed on the next steps for scientific
and technical information exchange through the IABIN Catalog and the six Thematic
Networks (species, specimens, ecosystems, pollinators, protected areas, and
invasive species). Presentations, news releases, and other documents from the
meeting are available on the IABIN Web site <www.iabin.net>,
and further information is available on the U.S. Web site for IABIN <www.iabin-us.org>.
Gladys Cotter, USGS Associate Chief Biologist for Information, was reelected to a second term as IABIN Council Chair. IABIN was created in 1996 as an initiative of the Summit of the Americas held in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, to provide the networking information infrastructure (such as standards and protocols), tools, and biodiversity information content required by the countries of the Americas to improve decision-making, particularly for issues at the interface of sustainable development and biodiversity conservation.
A concurrent meeting of the recently established Technical Working Group of
the IABIN Invasives Information Network (I3N) was led by Andrea Grosse of the
USGS Biological Informatics Office. Representatives from 10 countries participated
actively in helping to define the next activities for this first IABIN Thematic
Network that will serve as a model for other Thematic Networks. I3N so far
has created a distributed and searchable network of data catalogs from a dozen
countries. The simple tools developed by the NBII encourage interoperability
while maintaining the provider’s control over its information.
U. S. Signs Joint Declaration on Science and Technology Cooperation
On January 7, the U.S. Department of State and Cape Verde signed a joint declaration
regarding science and technology cooperation with the USGS participating
as the initial cooperator under this collaborative Agreement. The joint declaration
lays the foundation for science and technology partnerships, research projects,
and capacity building opportunities in several areas. In the coming months,
the USGS will initiate cooperation with interested parties in Cape Verde
(such as universities, private companies, and non-governmental organizations)
to conduct an information and infrastructure needs assessment. The assessment
will aid in the development of a Cape Verde Islands National Resources Information
System that will help support the conservation and restoration of ecological
and biological resources. USGS work on these activities is being coordinated
out of the Biological Informatics Office, which also serves as the NBII National
Program Office.