The biodiversity information and the role of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) was the main topic of a seminar held at the Instituto da Biodiversidade e Áreas Protegidas in Bissau, last July 14. The seminar was co-organised by IBAP and the Portuguese Node of GBIF. In this seminar, there were also presented IBAP's activities site devoted to the management of biodiversity information in protected areas, through databases and geographic information systems. The seminar was attended by thirty participants representing sixteen institutions or organizations of public administration, institutes and NGOs.
In the words of host of the seminar, the Director General of IBAP noted the importance of the availaibility of biodiversity information for a better response from institutions and countries to their obligations in the management of natural resources.
Besides the presentation of GBIF goals, its organization and mode of participation of countries and organizations, Rui Figueira, from the Portuguese Node, demonstrated the access to the data portal, with particular attention to the country data, querying information and its use, and other available resources such as manuals or tools, some of which are already available in Portuguese. In presentations on the IBAP information systems, Eliseu Benante first introduced the Geographic Information System implemented that supports the management of protected areas of Guinea-Bissau. Aissa Regalla presented afterwards the creation of the National System for Tracking Protected Areas System, which presents the information flows between the various components for the information management from its collection to the use and storage. It is hoped that this system can be implemented soon by the IBAP.
The seminar provided the first opportunity for the knowledge of the GBIF the Guinean community, with a first opportunity to consider the advantages of a possible future participation of Guinea-Bissau in GBIF.
This was the third seminar co-organised by the Portuguese Node with national institutions of PALOP countries, in the scope of the GBIF CESP 2015 GBIF_PALOP project. The agenda of the seminar and the presentations by GBIF Portugal are available below.