Bulgarian GBIF Node Yordan Uzunov, Boyko B. Georgiev Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2 Gagarin Street, 1113 Sofia GBIF European Nodes Meeting, 4-6 April 2011, Paris

Bulgarian GBIF Node GBIF European Nodes Meeting, 4-6 April 2011, Paris Positive developments – 1 FP7, Programme CAPACITIES, REGPOT-2008 WETLANET – Enhancing research potential by strengthening a local network of laboratories for studying wetland ecosystems functioning, restoration and management Duration: 36 months ( ) EC funding: 937,000 EUR National co-funding: 121,000 EUR

Bulgarian GBIF Node GBIF European Nodes Meeting, 4-6 April 2011, Paris Positive developments – 1 Sofia Atanasovsko Lake Srebarna Biosphere Reserve Sozopol WETLANET laboratories

Bulgarian GBIF Node GBIF European Nodes Meeting, 4-6 April 2011, Paris Funded by the National Science Fund – Consortium of 7 institutes of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and 3 universities Expected outputs: -Improving infrastructure of research collections -Improving laboratory facilities, especially in molecular systematics -Renovation of analytical equipment involved in ecosystem research -Improving the network of field stations -Increasing staff qualification, especially in molecular systematics in collection storing -Better integration between research potential at the national level Positive developments – 2

Bulgarian GBIF Node GBIF European Nodes Meeting, 4-6 April 2011, Paris Improving infrastructure of research collections Positive developments – 2 Task for 2011: Database of digital images of type specimens in the major Bulgarian biodiversity collections: National Museum of Natural History Herbarium of University of Sofia Herbarium of Agrarian University – Plovdiv Herbarium of Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research Zoological Collections of Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research

Bulgarian GBIF Node GBIF European Nodes Meeting, 4-6 April 2011, Paris Reorganization of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (July 2010) resulting into consolidation of the national biodiversity research capacity and expertise Positive developments – 3 Institute of Zoology Institute of Botany Central Laboratory of General Ecology Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research

Bulgarian GBIF Node GBIF European Nodes Meeting, 4-6 April 2011, Paris Lack of political commitment Science is not priority for the current Bulgarian government Lack of national financial resources for research - less 0.2% of the national budget National Research Priorities (2011 – 2020) – biodiversity not included No clear vision for the future of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences as a national research centre Bulgarian GBIF partner Ministry of Education, Youth and Science vs Ministry of Environment and Waters Lack of IT capacity oriented to biodiversity data – need of training Problems and needs