East Africa Biodiversity Metadatabase from the World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC)

Availability of Biodiversity Information for East Africa

Launched in 1992 at the Conference Conservation of Biodiversity in
Africa, Nairobi, the project represents a survey of the sources and types
of information held on biodiversity for Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda by
organisations both within and outside East Africa. The project came about
in response to the need for a systematic review of data holdings for the
region in support of conservation and sustainable development. This need
has been subsequently underscored by provisions in the Convention on
Biological Diversity calling for contracting parties to develop national
strategies, plans or programmes, assisted by such baseline information.

The study was a collaborative venture between the IUCN Regional Office
for Eastern Africa (EARO), the World Conservation Monitoring Centre
(WCMC), and key national institutions in each of the three countries.
Funding was provided by The European Commission (B7-5040 Contract
92/11) and through a contract with the Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations, executing agency for a GEF/UNDP project entitled
Institutional Support for the Protection of East African Biodiversity
(UNO/RAF/006/GEF).

Information for the study was collected using a standard questionnaire
design, administered by means of face to face interviews for the majority
of the 100 institutions surveyed within East Africa, by mailing the
questionnaire to more than 1000 institutions outside the region, and by
posting the questionnaire on "News", a global electronic bulletin board,
with the potential of reaching another 1 million+ subscribers.

A total of 350 questionnaires were completed and returned, the results
of which were used in the production of the following outputs:

The creation of a "data sources" database (metadatabase) of the
sources and types of biodiversity information held for the region

The production of a printed report including (1) summary
information and analysis of results in terms of taxonomic and
geographic coverage of biodiversity information; and (2) a catalogue
of questionnaire entries

Presentation of catalogue entries in Folio Views text-retrieval
software, with accompanying User's Guide

Important follow-up to this study includes forthcoming publication and
distribution of hard-copy and electronic outputs, maintenance and
updating of the database, ongoing provision of training in information
collection and database use, and general support for biodiversity
initiatives by promoting networking between institutions and accessibility
to information. Consideration is being given to extending the study to
other regions of Africa and elsewhere, and the experience gained from
this initiative is being used in support of larger institutional capacity
building projects currently being undertaken at WCMC.

LANGUAGE:
English

STATISTICAL INFORMATION:

ACCESS AND DISTRIBUTION:

WCMC makes information available through published media, through provision
of datasets, and through the provision of either standard or customised reports.
WCMC is committed to the principle of the free exchange of data with other
institutions and users. In so far as is practical, it places its data in the
public domain and encourages their wide distribution. However, costs may be
incurred in accessing and distributing datasets, and where analysis and
assessment provide an added-value service. Such costs are passed on to the
user.