Global South Development Expo 2012 Nomination Form
Nomination from (choose all that apply):
Nomination from (choose all that apply):
o National Govt.
o UN agency
o Private sector
X NGO/Civil society org.
Name of group or organization being nominated: Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad
(INBio)
Nominee details:
Address: del Cementerio de Santo Domingo, 200 metros norte y 400 metros oeste.
City: Santo Domingo de Heredia
Country: Costa Rica
Postal code: 22-3100 Santo Domingo de Heredia
Business telephone number: (506) 2507-8113
Mobile telephone number ______________________________________________________________
Fax number (506) 2507-8270
Email: cehernandez@inbio.ac.cr
Kindly answer the following questions using a maximum of six to seven pages:
1. Description of the initiative, including background and challenges: Provide a
description of the initiative, (i.e., its purpose, resources (human, material and financial), time
frame, activities, implementation process and challenges). Identify the main social, economic
and environmental issues addressed by the initiative.
The National Institute of Biodiversity –INBio (www.inbio.ac.cr)- is a biodiversity research
and management center, established in 1989 to support the efforts to better know and
understand the country’s biological diversity and promote its sustainable use improving
the quality of life of human being.
It is a private, non-profit and non-governmental organization, declared of public interest by
the Costa Rican government (executive decree from October 21st 1996). INBio works in
collaboration with several entities such as government, the business sector, and both
national and international public and private entities.
It carries out its mission through a core process that consists in generating, processing,
and transferring information and knowledge about biodiversity to society, aiming at
preserving our values and helping make the right decisions: always in favor of the
environment and to conserve biodiversity since it will directly impact human being lives.
Its job is mainly developed through the following areas:
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Inventory and Monitoring
Natural Capital Management
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Conservation for development
Communication and Education
Biodiversity Informatics
Bio-prospecting
The Institute has more than 15 years experience in working together with the whole
Central American region, as well as experience in more than 30 countries in Latin
America, Asia and Africa.
Fig. 1. INBio’s presence in the world through strengthening the biodiversity’s
conservation and sustainable management capacities.
Within the shared subjects are Biodiversity and Science, Biodiversity Uses, Integral
Management of Territory, Climate Change Adaptation, Environmental Education, and
Interpretation, amongst others. Exchanges and capacity building processes are provided
according to the target audience’s profile.
Since its inception, INBio has used Information and Communication Technologies to
articulate its core process that turns data gathered in the field by taxonomists and
parataxonomists into biodiversity information. This information is delivered in different
formats to: instill values in the general public (education), to support policy making
processes, and to support concrete conservation actions. The core process relies not
only on the scientific work of INBio’s staff, but also on pioneering work in biodiversity
informatics that supports the institution’s scientific, technological, educational, and
conservation activities.
By the end of November 2011, Costa Rica, through INBio, was the 1st Central American
country to join the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) becoming the 21st member
by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU); INBio is now part of a group of
prestigious organizations that through years of knowledge and experience will develop
educational and training activities to support other countries to develop scientific, technical
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and political abilities, all in the field of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the
Nagoya Protocol, both oriented to biodiversity’s conservation and sustainable use.
This document presents the Biodiversity Informatics Area’s experiences on the execution
of projects aimed at capacity building and technology transferring to developing countries
to support education, scientific research, and sustainable development. The four major
South-South collaboration areas are listed below:
1 Development of biodiversity information systems. INBio has developed the
technology required to support efforts to capture, manage and publish biodiversity
information (Atta System 1 ) and a Web 2 Portal that allows the integration of
biodiversity information managed in heterogeneous databases by institutions
distributed in a given region, among other tools. All software developed by the
institution is distributed under free software licenses to facilitate the transfer of
technology to other countries, thus avoiding duplication of development efforts.
2 Research support related to taxonomy, ecology, biogeography, conservation, and
other areas of science related to the study of biodiversity.
3 Capacity building in the fields of biodiversity informatics, geographic information
systems and open-source software.
4 Information Technology Transfer.
2. Main partners: Describe the origin of the partnership and for each partner country or
organization, indicate the partners’ roles and responsibilities in the planning, design,
implementation and funding of the initiative. Also describe the ways in which the partnership
has contributed to the success of the project or programme.
The main partners of the Biodiversity Informatics Area are listed below, grouped by role
and responsibility within the executed projects:
Project funding:
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JRS Biodiversity Foundation
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
The National Council for Scientific and Technological Research of Costa Rica
(CONICIT)
The Governments of Norway and the Netherlands
The World Bank Group
The Organization of American States (OAS).
The Commission on Environment and Development (CCAD)
GBIF Node in Spain.
Collaborative development of computer technology:
 The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).
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More information at http://atta.inbio.ac.cr/atta03.html
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GBIF data portal was used as a basis for the development of the portal.
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The Inter-American Biodiversity Information Network (IABIN)
GBIF Nodes in several countries (Spain, Mexico and Colombia).
Alexander von Humboldt Institute of Colombia
National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (Mexico)
Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG).
Technological Institute of Costa Rica - ITCR
3. Achievements and impact: Describe the estimated number and types of
beneficiaries (e.g., women, children, youth, poor, victims of conflicts and/or natural
disasters) and the impact of the initiative on beneficiaries’ living conditions (e.g., social,
economic, environment, health, education, employment, security of tenure, crime reduction,
community involvement in decisions/governance). Describe the impact of the initiative on
the building of leadership capacity at the local, national, regional and/or international
levels. Describe the solutions that have resulted from the activities of the project, focusing in
particular on the impact of the initiative on the achievement of the MDGs. Provide
quantitative and qualitative assessments.
INBio has worked in Costa Rica, Latin America, Asia and Africa, supporting them in
establishing biodiversity information networks, capacity building in biodiversity information
management of institutions members of these networks and computing technology
transfer. Major achievements are highlighted below:
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Three regional networks have been established: Species and Specimens
Thematic Network (SSTN) of IABIN, the Central America and the Caribbean
Herbaria Network, and the Biodiversity Network of the Mesoamerican
Environmental Information System (SIAM).
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Three national networks established or being established: The National
Biodiversity Information System of the Kingdom of Bhutan, The National
Biodiversity Information System of Benin, and The National Biological Collections
Information System of Chile.
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92 institutions sharing information and biodiversity data freely and openly over the
Internet, using protocols and standards developed by the international community.
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More than one million five hundred thousand digitized specimen records in
coordination with 42 institutions, and 36,840 species records digitized by 12
institutions. Information is available on the websites of SSTN and Central America
and the Caribbean Herbaria Network.
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Seven workshops held (two regional and five national) to train trainers in the field
of biodiversity informatics, with the participation of 43 representatives from 24
countries of the American region.
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20 regular workshops taught in different countries with the participation of over 430
people.
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30 countries involved in the implemented projects.
Detail of Relevant Projects:
A. Establishment of SSTN- IABIN (2006 – 2011)
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Leading Organization: INBio
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Partner organizations: Alexander von Humboldt Institute, Argentinean Natural
Science Museum, NatureServe and Central America and the Caribbean Herbaria
Network.
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Donor: The World Bank Group
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Project goal: To establish and administer SSTN-IABIN to foster technical
collaboration and coordination among countries of the Americas in collection,
sharing, and use of biodiversity information relevant to policy and decision-making
on natural resources conservation and development.
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Relevant Achievements: the required information technology to implement the
network (free software) was developed: a tool to support museums and herbaria in
the region in the process of capturing, managing, curating and publishing their
biodiversity information (Atta); a portal to integrate and publish biodiversity
information, and tools for data visualization and scenario modeling of potential
threats to biodiversity; two regional workshops to train trainers were delivered to
28 representatives from 23 countries of the American region; more than five million
specimen records from 54 institutions and more than 41,000 species records from
14 data providers were integrated into the network. SSTN portal is available at
http://species.iabin.net.
B. Establishment of the Biodiversity Network of the Mesoamerican Environmental
Information System (SIAM) (2011)
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Leading Organization: INBio
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Partner Organizations: Regional Strategic Biodiversity Monitoring and Assessment
of Program (PROMEBIO) of the Commission on Environment and Development
(CCAD).
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Donor: Inter-American Development Bank
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Project goal: to provide the Central American region with free-use information
technologies for the generation, editing, integration, and publication of taxonomic,
geographical, ecological data and those of potential uses of biodiversity.
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Relevant Achievements: two regional workshops carried out (one in El Salvador
and another in Honduras) on the subject of biodiversity informatics and use of
developed tools, with the participation of 50 people from 9 countries; the data
portal of the network was implemented (available at http://www.biosiam.org/) and
the personnel in charge of managing the portal was trained on maintenance and
integration of new data providers.
C. Establishment of the Central America and the Caribbean Herbaria Network
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Leading Organization: INBio
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Partner Institutions: University of San Carlos of Guatemala, Pan American School
of Agriculture - Zamorano, Natural History Museum of Salvador, National
Autonomous University of Nicaragua, National Museum of Costa Rica, University
of Panama, Nicaragua Agricultural University, Autonomous University of Honduras,
National School Forestry in Honduras.
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Project: Building Capacity and Sharing Technology for Biodiversity Management in
Central America: Central America Herbaria
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Project goal: To conserve and sustainably use Central American biodiversity
through leadership and organizational capacity, to encourage collaboration among
governments and civil society.
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Relevant Achievements: a study on the status of biodiversity knowledge in each
country was carried out, the biodiversity data portal of the region
(http://www.inbio.ac.cr/web_herbarios/) was implemented, an application for
administration of multimedia files (images and videos) was implemented, curated
data were integrated into the portal.
Additionally, as an outcome of the project, “Digitization and Analysis of Information
Relevant for the Implementation of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation in
Central America” funded by GBIF, a total of 233,510 new botanical records were
integrated into the network and a system available on the web was implemented to
generate taxonomic reports on Mesoamerican biodiversity from databases of the
National Biodiversity Commission of Mexico and INBio.
D. Participation at GBIF Mentoring Programme (2005 - 2012)
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Leading Organization: INBio
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GBIF member countries supported: Argentina, Nicaragua, Peru, Cuba, and Chile.
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Project Goal: To develop biodiversity informatics capacity on subjects of global
interest that public and private institutions need to know in order to be part of a
decentralized network of biodiversity information centres.
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Relevant Achievements: mentoring projects executed for GBIF national nodes in
Argentina, Nicaragua, Peru, Cuba, and Chile; one workshop per country taught at
INBio with the aim to train trainers of each project, and a national workshop carried
out in each country with the participation of 18 people in Nicaragua, 15 people in
Argentina, 40 people in Peru, 38 people in Cuba, and 37 people in Chile.
Additionally, the National Biological Collections Information System of Chile was
implemented in Chile and is available at http://gbif-chile.mma.gob.cl.
E. Establishment of the National Biodiversity Information System of the Kingdom of
Bhutan (2008 - 2010)
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Leading Institution: INBio
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Partner institutions: Centre de Recherche pour la Gestion de la Biodiversité et du
Terroir (CERGET) - Benin, and National Biodiversity Center (NBC), Ministry of
Agriculture - Bhutan.
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Project: “Collaboration between, Benin, Bhutan and Costa Rica in capacity
development for Biodiversity Information Management“
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Donor: South-South Cooperation Programme by Fundecooperación, with financial
contribution from the Kingdom of The Netherlands.
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Project goal: to improve capacity of national institutions to offer new information
products and services to society, as part of the efforts of the countries toward
conservation and sustainable use of biological resources.
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Relevant Achievements: a national workshop was taught in Bhutan, with the
participation of 8 people and the information technology required was implemented
to establish the National Biodiversity Information System of the Kingdom of Bhutan
available at http://portal.nbc.gov.bt/portalStatic/.
F. Establishment of the National Biodiversity Information System of Benin (2011 –
2013)
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Leading Institution: INBio
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Partner Institutions: Faculty of Agronomy of the University of Abomey Calavi in
Benin (FSA/UAC)
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Project: "A Technological Package for the Implementation of the National
Biodiversity Information System (NBIS) of Benin”
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Donor: JRS Biodiversity Foundation
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Project goal: to strengthen the capacity of Benin on the biodiversity informatics
subject, to improve the use of information technology at FSA/UAC and to
implement the necessary infrastructure to establish the National Biodiversity
Information System. A prototype of the system is available at
http://lucina.inbio.ac.cr/portalBenin/.
4. Sustainability: Indicate the ways in which the initiative has achieved lasting change,
including the mechanisms used to ensure sustainability (e.g., new legislation, capacitybuilding, empowerment).
South-South projects carried out by INBio place particular emphasis on capacity
building among the participating countries and institutions, in order to empower them to
pursue the development of their initiatives after project completion.
5. Innovation: Describe the main innovative aspects of the initiative, including what is
innovative about the Southern solutions that it is providing/has provided. Also indicate how
these solutions may be applicable to other communities’ efforts to reduce poverty or meet
any other Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Important progress made in the development of technology and efforts focused on
capacity building for biodiversity informatics worldwide have enabled a large amount of
biodiversity data to be integrated and made available to support research, education,
and sustainable development related with the Millennium Development Goals
(Environmental Sustainability and poverty Reduction). These efforts are being led by
global initiatives such as GBIF, TDWG and, more recently, the Encyclopedia of Life
(EOL), designed to promote integration and free use of biodiversity information.
Developing countries interested in preserving their natural capital can leverage these
resources to support decision-making and national scientific research (knowledge and
technology) and, additionally, to contribute to these efforts by adding data and
information to global knowledge repositories. The implementation of national and
regional networks and capacity building in biodiversity informatics for developing
countries using advanced technology makes the above projects innovative.
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6. Replicability and scaling up: Indicate whether this initiative is replicable and/or
adaptable and whether the solutions from the project can be scaled up. If scaling up is
possible, describe how it can be achieved.
Both the Biodiversity Data Portal 2.0 and Atta are open-source developments made by
INBio in collaboration with the international community, which can be used, modified
and distributed without charge. To make this possible, the source code of the
applications is available. All countries, organizations and researchers who use these
tools are part of a community of users and developers who share a common interest in
the software developed. These conditions help to improve the functioning and the
technical quality of the applications and to avoid duplication of efforts, given that they
benefit other countries and institutions.
7. Areas of contribution: Explain the ways in which the initiative has made a significant
contribution to any of the following areas or sectors, where applicable:
a. Infrastructure development: Development of information technology (free software
and open standards) to support the establishment of national and regional networks.
b. Outreach: The biodiversity portals established through the above described projects
provide free and open access to the general public to biodiversity data and information
that can be used for scientific research, education, instill values, and sustainable
development purposes.
c. Networks: The projects described on this document have as one of their main
outcomes to establish national or regional biodiversity data and information networks
that integrate heterogeneous databases managed by institutions that are spread over a
given geographical region.
d. Environment:
The free and open availability of information and data in digital format on species of
interest to a country or region through an integrated gateway is key and has a major
impact:
At the national level, governments are able to create appropriate measures and to
conduct territorial planning activities to protect certain areas of the country where
there are important species (i.e. endangered, endemic, among others), by designing
research protocols to learn more about the biology of these species, and to comply
with agreements or commitments made through national and international
conventions, among others.
At the institutional level, many research activities can be carried out, for instance on
the species of interest, to model their ecological niches, study their susceptibility to
global/climate change and to define measures for their conservation and sustainable
use, among others.
The general public, because of being exposed to this information, can create
awareness of the value of biodiversity and services and they will be more willing to
cooperate in participatory activities to conserve biodiversity.
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8. Awareness of the initiative: Indicate how information on the initiative and its results has
been disseminated (media, publications, lectures, web sites, etc.). Where possible, send
copies of the actual articles as an annex.
The information on the presented initiatives is available at the website of each project.
9. Other information: Please include any other information that is relevant regarding the
potential of the initiative to advance human development in the context of South-South
cooperation.
Please send the completed form to:
Bob Kakuyo: Bob.Kakuyo@unep.org
Rui Zhang: Rui.Zhang@unep.org
Thank you
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