Ensuring sustainability

The forests that occupy 88 per cent of Gabon’s host between 7,000 and 7,500 plant species, and close to a thousand of them are endemic. The National Herbarium of Gabon maintains a collection of nearly 70,000 specimens, making it the most important source of data on the country’s floristic biodiversity, with other data dispersed across other governmental institutions and universities.

To mobilize additional data to serve and support the country's conservation needs, this project combined specimen information with data from forest inventories and other research projects, adding more than 58 thousand newly digitized records covering 5,447 species both to GBIF.org and the Plateforme de l'Herbier National du Gabon.

The authoritative database on the Gabonese flora feeds directly into two parallel national initiatives: Cadre d’Investissement du Gabon pour l’Initiative pour la Forêt de l’Afrique Centrale (CAFI) and Biodiversity Assessment for Spatial Prioritisation in Africa (BASPA) project. CAFI will use the database to help identify areas of High Conservation Value and guide land-use planning, while BASPA will assess the conservation status of species using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria.

This project aimed to build a local community of early-career bird conservation professionals and students in Kenya. It focused on three main objectives: integrating biodiversity data into conservation decision-making by collaborating with graduate students, early-career scientists, and conservation managers to create conservation policy briefs; enhancing the use of GBIF-mediated data by students and early-career researchers; and strengthening the capacity of conservation managers to collect policy-relevant biodiversity data through citizen science.

The project was pivotal in equipping graduate students, early-career researchers, and conservation managers with skills in ecological niche modelling, scientific writing, and policy brief development. The project enabled Kenyan PhD and MSc students to base their theses on data accessed through GBIF, a first in the country. It resulted in valuable outputs including research articles, conference presentations, and policy briefs, contributing to the conservation of critically endangered raptor species. To sustain its impact, the team established the Center for Biodiversity Information Development (BID-C) at Strathmore University, dedicated to advancing biodiversity conservation research through data mobilization and utilization.

Over the past 60 years, Venezuelan marine science institutions have gathered extensive data on the country's unique marine biodiversity. This valuable information, including specimens and research theses, faces the risk of permanent loss due to theft and destruction. The BID project aimed to digitize and safeguard this data, with a focus on marine protected areas, contributing to filling knowledge gaps, and ultimately feeding into biodiversity indicators.

Regular meetings were held throughout the project between the consortium’s national coordinator and institutional coordinators, fostering a cooperative working dynamic among team members and project allies. It created 67 datasets and 42,170 new data entries, and also formed a collaborative working group of 16 researchers dedicated to training the next generation in data mobilization. Ultimately, the project not only rescued Venezuela's marine biodiversity knowledge but also empowered a group of researchers, who have enhanced their productivity, skills, and collaborative efforts through this endeavor.