A platform for promoting partnerships in taxonomy Eastern Africa Barcode of Life workshop, Nairobi, October 2006 Richard Smith (Director, Secretariat) & Wanja Kinuthia (National Museums of Kenya and Regional Coordinator, BioNET-EAFRINET)

Eastern Africa Barcode of Life Workshop, Nairobi, October 2006 BioNET – why? Taxonomic institutions are in critical decline worldwide. Taxonomic sector is fragmenting. Taxonomic support and services increasingly depends on:  the cooperation of institutions in networks  exploitation of opportunities offered by digital and molecular technologies The needs for sustainable solutions to greater capacity are most acute in less industrialised countries.

Eastern Africa Barcode of Life Workshop, Nairobi, October 2006 BioNET – Vision People everywhere can name all living organisms

Eastern Africa Barcode of Life Workshop, Nairobi, October 2006 Why Taxonomy Matters … medicinal plants fisheries aquaculture forestry pest management biocontrol invasive alien species pollinators tourism safer trade biodiversity conservation forensics transportation engineering construction food safety health (human and animal) agriculture horticulture forensics environmental impact assessment …

Eastern Africa Barcode of Life Workshop, Nairobi, October 2006 BioNET fact sheet Founded 1993 to promote taxonomic capacity building for less industrialized countries Unique the only organisation dedicated to promoting taxonomy globally “the most comprehensive network…” Decision VI/8 of the Convention on Biological Diversity Strategy Promote the relevance of taxonomy to decision making, development, conservation, environmental science, climate change adaptation…

Eastern Africa Barcode of Life Workshop, Nairobi, October 2006 International partners  Coordinating Institutes Regional / National / Thematic in over 100 countries in 10 regions  Secretariat hosting CABI  Membership IUCN, GBIF, CBOL, IFS, GTI Coordination Mechanism, GISIN, SP-IPM, etc.  Technical partners GISP, API, UNESCO, IUCN, CABI, Lucid, IPPC, FAO, PestNet, Discoverlife, CBOL, CBD Secretariat, etc.  Funding partners  Secretariat: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation & Defra (UK)  LOOPs: UNDP, CTA, Commonwealth Secretariat, DFID, GEF, USGS, AusAID, etc.

Eastern Africa Barcode of Life Workshop, Nairobi, October 2006 BioNET, the CBD and the Global Taxonomy Initiative  Global Taxonomy Initiative: The global level policy framework for mobilising the taxonomic research, outputs and information needed to support implementation of the CBD. Born from a recognition of the acute need for capacity building.  BioNET Mission: Contribute to human well-being and biodiversity conservation by building capacity to discover, name, and classify the world’s living organisms.  Parties to the CBD have identified the following roles BioNET can support:  Needs identification  Capacity building  Collaboration  Regional cooperation  GTI Coordination Mechanism

Eastern Africa Barcode of Life Workshop, Nairobi, October 2006 BioNET support for the GTI 1. Achievements  Strengthening cooperation 1 additional, new regional partnership (LOOP) each year Global workshop - taxonomists from 95 countries, 30+ end-user / technology developer / funding organisations; framework for demand- driven GTI implementation  Needs assessments Priority setting in 16 countries in 3 regions 2 user-oriented, in-depth regional assessment Global assessment of taxonomy needs for invasive species management

Eastern Africa Barcode of Life Workshop, Nairobi, October 2006 BioNET support for the GTI 2. Achievements  Building capacity 6-7 regional training courses / year (e.g. quarantine mycology / pest listing, public health, pollinators, invasive alien species) fellowships for short / extended study (E Africa, W Africa, E Asia) technology transfer – digital identification guides and tools  Communication: expanding “The most comprehensive network…” to 153 countries Why Taxonomy Matters case studies support outreach to decision makers BioNET Bulletin / website promotes awareness of GTI, training and policy opportunities, events, publications

Eastern Africa Barcode of Life Workshop, Nairobi, October 2006 What is a BioNET LOOP? L ocally O wned and O perated P artnership = Technical Cooperation Network permanent structure, endorsed by governments, owned and operated by member institutions

Eastern Africa Barcode of Life Workshop, Nairobi, October 2006 Some recent LOOP achievements Research to identify a biocontrol agent for the maize stem borer. Training for entomology / public health institutions on Taxonomy of Neotropical Tabanidae (Insecta: Diptera). Policy development Support for Kenya GTI Focal Point participation in CBD SBSTTA meeting and presentation at GTI event. Collection databasing and digitisation Mycology Collection/Names/Images Digitization. Training Design, development and production of multimedia diagnostic keys. Technical support Coordination and provision of expert contributions for PestNet in SE Asia and Caribbean

Eastern Africa Barcode of Life Workshop, Nairobi, October 2006