Nabilah S
The main goal of a regional workshop held at the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) from November 14–18, 2022, is to share data about biodiversity. People from all over the Pacific came to Apia to learn how to share their data on the GBIF network and use data to make better decisions.
In 2017, the first GBIF Participant Node was set up in the Pacific thanks to an agreement between SPREP and GBIF. This node lets SPREP Member countries and territories publish their biodiversity data directly to GBIF. It also gives SPREP the job of helping its Member governments and other stakeholders improve their work with GBIF.
This node lets SPREP Member countries and territories publish their biodiversity data directly to GBIF. It also gives SPREP the job of helping its Member governments and other stakeholders improve their work with GBIF. The workshop also wanted to get more people from the Pacific on the board that runs the GBIF. Tonga is the only country in the Pacific that has signed up to be a Voting Participant in GBIF.
Participants were also told about the Pacific Biodiversity Information Facility (PBIF). PBIF shows all the data on biodiversity from Pacific island countries and territories already on GBIF.
Participants were also told about the Pacific Biodiversity Information Facility (PBIF). PBIF shows all the data on biodiversity from Pacific island countries and territories already on GBIF.
This workshop aimed to help Pacific island countries and territories improve their ability to publish high-quality data.
This has numerous advantages, including increased awareness for biodiversity studies in the Pacific, prospects for collaboration throughout the area, tracking usage and citations, and contributing to global biodiversity knowledge.
Broad participation from across the Pacific was achieved with representatives from government agencies, non-governmental organisations, and academia.
When asked what they hoped to get out of the workshop, Mr Jake Taoi, Conservation Officer at Nature Fiji MareqetiViti, stated, “I work with many different datasets; this workshop will give some insight into the due diligence that needs to happen before publishing.”
All representatives were asked to bring a dataset they could work with for the entire week.
Mr David Bloom, a Vertnet representative, stated that the course was an excellent approach to learning new data management abilities.
“Participants had the opportunity to work on their datasets with our assistance on the digitisation and publication process, which is vital for ensuring high-quality data,” he said.
The datasets released this week will supplement the six million records already available on PBIF.
By the end of the workshop on November 18, sixteen representatives from consortium partners had learned how to plan and implement digitised data according to GBIF standards.
The PBIF ambassador program now has 13 new members.
Pacific countries can now get help using the PBIF platform by contacting PBIF ambassadors in their area.
The SPREP Invasive Species Team and Mr David Bloom of Vertnet led the training sessions. This is part of SPREP’s ongoing work to help its member countries by giving them opportunities to build their data management skills.
Visit https://www.gbif.org/what-is-gbif for more information about GBIF.
This project is part of the European Union’s Biodiversity Information Development (BID) program, which SPREP runs.
Contact Mr Bradley Myer at [email protected] to find out more about these projects.
