Biodiversity Information: Needs and Operations
Edited by D L Hawksworth, International Mycological Institute, Egham, UK; P M Kirk, International Mycological Institute, Egham, UK; S Dextre Clarke, CAB International, Wallingford, UK
Pub Date: July 1997
Hardback
288 pages
Readership
A wide range of biologists including ecologists, taxonomists, conservationists and others.
Main Description
Biodiversity has been identified as a key issue in the general debate about the sustainable use of the world’s natural resources. Major international efforts are now underway to assess and maintain biodiversity. However, there is an urgent need to collect, manage and disseminate information related to biodiversity in an efficient and effective way.
The purpose of this book is to review the needs and opportunities for information and efficient information flows in support of world priorities in biodiversity. It is based on papers presented at a workshop held in London in July 1996, organized by CAB International with the support of the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS), International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO), IUCN — The World Conservation Union and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Contributors include leading players from organizations concerned with conserving and managing biodiversity, based in Europe and the USA as well as developing countries.
Main Contents
Keynote Address
• The importance of biodiversity information Sir Crispin Tickell, Green College, The Radcliffe Observatory, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Defining and Meeting Needs for Information
• Information Needs in Biodiversity Assessments - From Genes to Ecosystems V H Heywood, University of Reading, UK
• Assessing Information Needs for Sustainable Use and Conservation of Biodiversity Dan H Janzen, University of Pennsylvania, USA and R Gαmez, INBio, Santa Domingo de Herdia, Costa Rica
• Defining and Meeting Needs for Information: Agriculture and Forestry Perspective T J B Boyle, Center for International Forestry Research, Bogor, Indonesia and J M Lennι, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru, India
Collecting and Managing the Information
• Information Needs of Inventory Programmes D L Hawksworth and R K Mibey, University of Nairobi, Kenya
• Wider Use and Application of Indigenous Knowledge, Innovations and Practices: Information Systems and Ethical Concerns D D Posey, The Oxford Centre for the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
• Management of Information to Support Conservation Decision Making J R Busby, World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge, UK
• Overview of the UNEP/GEF Biodiversity Data Management Project (BDM) F Duff, United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi, Kenya
Distributing the Information
• The Role of Information in the Operation of the Convention on Biological Diversity C Juma, UNEP, World Trade Centre, Montreal, Canada
• Designing Information Systems to Support Biodiversity Conservation B A Stein, The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, USA
• Networks for Distributing Information V P Canhos, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brasil, G P Manfio, Tropical Culture Collection, Fundaηγo de Pesquisas e Tecnologia, Brasil and D A L Canhos, Tropical Database, Fundacao de Pesquisas e Tecnologia, Brasil
• Biodiversity: The Role of Information Technology in Distributing Information J R Burley, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, P R Scott, CAB INTERNATIONAL, Wallingford, UK and A W Speedy, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Overall Conclusions
• Final Report Recommendations
