INVASIVE ALIEN SPECIES DATABASE COOPERATION BETWEEN LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES UPON A IABIN DATABASE Sergio Zalba, Universidad del Sur, Argentina Silvia Ziller, Instituto Hórus / TNC, Brazil Claudia Múnera, Instituto von Humboldt, Colombia GEKKO Grupo de Estudios en Conservación y Manejo

IN ARGENTINA The Universidad Nacional del Sur started working with IABIN on a database in January 2002 The base was completed and made available on the web by December 2002 The base now has 378 species, 61 specialists and 38 projects listed

IN BRAZIL The Horus Institute for Environmental Conservation and Development and The Nature Conservancy started a national survey for invasive species in 2003 and needed a database Once contacted, Dr. Sergio Zalba in Argentina offered to send the structure of the database for use in Brazil The Brazilian base has 30 species listed so far, and is growing day by day Volunteer students of the Parana Federal University are registering data and doing research on the species to generate information and fact sheets in the Portuguese language

IN COLOMBIA The Humboldt Institute is beginning to replicate the process and has received a copy of the database in May 2003 The Institute has developed an agreement with Universidad Nacional de Colombia to start gathering and organizing information on alien invasive species A national workshop is planned for September, to collect information and raise awareness at a national scale A person will be hired to register data and coordinate the database

ON GOING COOPERATION Any changes in the structure of the database will be communicated and adjusted by cooperating parties Brazil has included a table for register of geographical positioning of invasions and intends to develop a GIS We invite all Latin American countries to use the same database to enhance cooperation, facilitate information exchange in the future and save costs in designing new bases

CONTACTS Sergio Zalba Universidad del Sur, Baía Blanca Argentina Silvia R. Ziller The Horus Institute for Environmental Conservation and Development / The Nature Conservancy Florianópolis / Curitiba, Brazil Claudia Múnera The Humboldt Institute Bogotá, Colombia