Participating programs

Biota Africa has been jointly invented by African and German researchers aiming at the establishment of research supporting sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity in Africa.
While, initially, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) was open to fund the initiative, meanwhile several African countries and partner institutions added funding.
The project, from its beginning, had a very visible continent-wide dimension and is still expanding especially with regard to its role as a "Biodiversity Observation Network" on the African continent.

DIVERSITAS
Biodiversity underpins the life-support system of our planet. Yet several factors, including human behavior, have brought us to a critical point. The world is experiencing an unprecedented rate of species extinction, which may have far-reaching consequences for all life forms.
DIVERSITAS brings together biological, ecological and social sciences to address four key questions that underlie our limited understanding of the current situation:

• How did biodiversity evolve in space and time to reach current state?
• How much biodiversity exists and how does its change or loss affect the system as a whole?
• How does biodiversity correspond to the delivery of ecosystem functions and services, and what is the true value of these commodities?
• How can scientific investigation support policy and decision making to encourage more sustainable use of biodiversity?

Armed with a broader, deeper knowledge of biodiversity, we will be better equipped to safeguard the future of Earth’s natural resources.

EBONE

EBONE, the European Biodiversity Observation Network, is a project funded under the EU-FP7 Research Programme, Theme 6 – Environment. It runs from April 2008 until April 2012. It is a crucial European contribution to the work of the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observing System (GEO BON).

EBONE intends to be the basis of a cost effective data collection system for biodiversity including extant data, both past and present, at national, regional and European levels. It will form the basis for the continued development of a European Biodiversity Observation System and in this way provide a common European basis or reporting on biodiversity, access to indicator data for CBD reporting against the 2010 target.

EBONE will link the scientific basis of the project to a sound institutional framework. This ensures continuity and long term collaboration. This network is open for other partners as well. The end product should therefore be „a biodiversity observation network that is spatially and topically prioritized and a structure for an institutional framework allowing European and monitoring and a possible extension world wide including projections on trends based on reliable data and indicators”.

GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility)
Global communication has expanded remarkably since the inception of the Internet. Technical advances have made distribution of data from major centres to remote parts of the world possible, if those data are in digital form.
Biodiversity is found around the world - there are micro-organisms between granules of rock 3 km below the Earth's surface, rootless plants in the Atacama Desert, thousands of species of beetles in a single rainforest tree. However, biodiversity is not distributed evenly across the face of the planet. An estimated 75% of all species are found in the developing world.
Information about biodiversity (natural history collections, library materials, databases) likewise is not distributed evenly around the globe. Three-quarters or more of data about biodiversity are stored in the developed world. However, most of the data that may be needed can't be transferred because either they are not digitised, or capacity to handle digital information is lacking, or both.
Facilitating digitisation and global dissemination of primary biodiversity data, so that people from all countries can benefit from the use of the information, is the mission of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).

Guyra Paraguay

ILTER
International Long Term Ecological Research (ILTER) consists of networks of scientists engaged in long-term, site-based ecological and socioeconomic research. Our mission is to improve understanding of global ecosystems and inform solutions to current and future environmental problems. ILTER’s ten-year goals are to:

• Foster and promote collaboration and coordination among ecological researchers and research networks at local, regional and global scales
• Improve comparability of long-term ecological data from sites around the world, and facilitate exchange and preservation of this data
• Deliver scientific information to scientists, policymakers, and the public and develop best ecosystem management practices to meet the needs of decision-makers at multiple levels
• Facilitate education of the next generation of long-term scientists

NASA

NASA Earth System Science conducts and sponsors research, collects new observations from space, develops technologies, and extends science and technology education to learners of all ages. We work closely with global partners in government, industry, and the broader public to promote environmental stewardship and enhance economic security, benefiting society in many tangible ways. We conduct and sponsor research to answer fundamental scientific questions about the changes we see in climate, weather, natural hazards, and the planet's ecosystems and deliver sound scientific results that improve the decisions of policy-makers. We inspire the next generation of explorers by providing opportunities for learners of all ages to investigate the Earth system using unique NASA resources and in so doing strengthen science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education nationwide.

NBII
The National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) is a broad, collaborative program to provide increased access to data and information on the nation's biological resources. The NBII links diverse, high-quality biological databases, information products, and analytical tools maintained by NBII partners and other contributors in government agencies, academic institutions, non-government organizations, and private industry. NBII partners and collaborators also work on new standards, tools, and technologies that make it easier to find, integrate, and apply biological resources information. Resource managers, scientists, educators, and the general public use the NBII to answer a wide range of questions related to the management, use, or conservation of this nation's biological resources

UNEP-WCMC
UNEP-WCMC’s mission is to evaluate and highlight the many values of biodiversity and put authoritative biodiversity knowledge at the centre of decision-making. Our goal is to be an internationally recognised Centre of Excellence for the synthesis, analysis and dissemination of global biodiversity knowledge, providing authoritative, strategic and timely information for conventions, countries, organizations and companies to use in the development and implementation of their policies and decisions.

USAID
Since 1961, USAID has been the principal U.S. agency to extend assistance to countries recovering from disaster, trying to escape poverty, and engaging in democratic reforms. USAID is an independent federal government agency that receives overall foreign policy guidance from the Secretary of State. Our Work supports long-term and equitable economic growth and advances U.S. foreign policy objectives by supporting:

• Economic growth, agriculture and trade
• Global health
• Democracy, conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance

In recognition of the importance of biodiversity, USAID has made biodiversity conservation a key goal under its program to protect the environment. USAID is supporting conservation activities in more than 50 countries, seeking to maintain the variety of species and the habitats in which they occur. USAID is working with communities, non-governmental organizations, and governments to develop environmental policies and management practices that conserve biodiversity and, at the same time, sustain local livelihoods.

US Geological Survey (USGS)
The USGS serves the Nation by providing reliable scientific information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life.
As the Nation's largest water, earth, and biological science and civilian mapping agency, the U.S. Geological Survey collects, monitors, analyzes, and provides scientific understanding about natural resource conditions, issues, and problems.  The diversity of our scientific expertise enables us to carry out large-scale, multi-disciplinary investigations and provide impartial scientific information to resource managers, planners, and other customers.