BioNET's regional networks and the Global Secretariat work with many organisations and initiatives in order to develop and organise the taxonomic capacity needed to better address societal needs.
Centres of taxonomic expertise
BioNET engages with taxonomy expert centres around the world to facilitate north-south and south-south collaborations, promote knowledge transfer and information exchange, strengthen taxonomic capacity particularly in developing countries and promote appreciation of taxonomy and its applications. Expert centres may deliver training in taxonomy and its applications or provide specific expertise to projects. BioNET offers its expert partners a unique network for facilitating cooperation with taxonomy practitioners and users.
Technology partners
BioNET partners with a number of initiatives that seek to operate at the global level disseminating technologies to support taxonomy and taxonomic services. BioNET, in turn, supports the goals of these organisations and initiatives by raising awareness of and determining local needs for new technologies; providing a training network and facilitating the engagement of local experts; and by mobilising taxonomists to use new taxonomic tools for the development of demand-driven taxonomic products and services.
Capacity building partners
BioNET works with international environment, agriculture and development organisations with capacity building mandates to encourage integration of taxonomic capacity building into a broader perspective, offering local identification of capacity building priorit ies; identification of local human resources, e.g. taxonomy experts and trainees; organisation of training courses; publication and dissemination of capacity building outputs; and through publicity for the partner organisation and programmes.
BioNET contributed expertise to the design of the East and Southeast Asia Biodiversity Inventory Initiative (ESABII) and participates in its steering committee. The ESABII project aims to contribute to the implementation of the Strategic Plan for achieving the CBD Post 2010 Targets. BioNET is implementing the ASEAN Regional Diagnostic Network (ARDN) as a contribution to achieving ESABII objectives.
CABI provides information world-wide and applies scientific expertise to solve problems in agriculture and the environment. CABI hosts BioNET's Global Secretariat and the BioNET-ASEANET Secretariat. BioNET and CABI share capacity building interests in a number of areas including plant health, the WTO-SPS agreement, invasive alien species and biological resource centres.
Centre for Biological Information Technology (CBIT)
A major research theme of CBIT is the development of IT-tools to rapidly develop identification and diagnostic keys for the Internet, e.g. the Lucid Software. Various BioNET LOOPs have partnered in delivering Lucid key development workshops. In 2010-11, CBIT supported BioNET-EAFRINET with training and information for factsheets and keys to priority pollinator, pest and invasive species in East Africa.
BioNET is a member of CBOL and works with CBOL to promote the use of DNA barcoding to developing countries. BioNET has financially and logistically supported regional DNA barcoding meetings in Southern Africa, East Africa, West Africa, South America and Asia, as well as subsequent project planning meetings resulting in barcoding concepts and proposals.
BioNET is an Associate Participant of GBIF, which promotes the sharing of information on species- and specimen-level data on the Web. GBIF and BioNET are mutually reinforcing: GBIF capacity building focuses on informatics infrastructure and related skills while BioNET's focus is the human resources and collections that underpin the practice of taxonomy and hence the generation and use of data served by GBIF. Through the BioNET network, GBIF can disseminate information products to non-taxonomic end-users. Several LOOPs are members of GBIF, allowing them to benefit directly from training and support.
International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe)
icipe and BioNET collaborate on several regional and global projects. For example, Icipe participates in the BioNET UVIMA Project and has supported the development of project concepts with BioNET.
BioNET is an international NGO member of the World Conservation Union; IUCN is a major end-user of taxonomy for conservation tools.
Museum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, France (MNHN, Paris)
The National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France, supported the Concept Phase of the Global Taxonomy Partnership Fund (GTPF) project lead by the BioNET Secretariat by hosting a steering committee and a stakeholder meeting in June 2009.
NHM and BioNET have partnered since 1993 when the idea of an international network for taxonomy gained support at a UK sponsored workshop hosted by NHM. BioNET's Board is chaired by a senior NHM staff member. NHM and BioNET collaborate on developing and applying innovative needs assessment methodologies.
Pestnet is an informal, free service providing advice on plant pests. BioNET helps mobilise taxonomic support for PestNet, particularly in the Caribbean where BioNET-CARINET operates the CARI-PestNet service and in Southeast Asia where BioNET-ASEANET helps moderate PestNet.
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS)
RBINS houses the Belgian Focal Point to the Global Taxonomy Initiative and supported the BioNET Secretariat in developing the business plan for the Global Taxonomy Partnership Fund (GTPF) to mobilize sustainable new sources of funding for taxonomy.
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH)
The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History supports the African Pollinator Initiative (API), an initiative involving three BioNET LOOPs. In 2010, NMHN collaborated with BioNET in East Africa to provide expertise and mentoring for proposal development aimed at mobilizing and making data on pollinator species useful for addressing the environmental, food and poverty crises in Africa.
South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI)
SANBI supports BioNET strategically and practically, for example as a trainer in Lucid key and factsheet creation.
UNESCO supports BioNET's actions, seeing them as "being essential to delivery of sound efforts for capacity building". UNESCO was a co-organiser of the Third Global Taxonomy Workshop organized by BioNET and invited the BioNET Secretariat to co-organise its Science Policy Conference in January 2010 to celebrate the International Year for Biodiversity, 2010.
BioNET prepared the slide show 'Taxonomy - Understanding the world around you' for UNEP to introduce taxonomy to general audiences for the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity celebrations.
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