It is already on the 14th of July, that the Instituto de Biodiversidade e das Áreas Protegidas (IBAP) of Guiné-Bissau hosts, at its headquarters in Bissau, the seminar The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and the availability of biodiversity data about Guinea-Bissau. The seminar is co-organized by the IBAP and the Portuguese GBIF Node, and runs under the GBIF_PALOP project to promote GBIF on African Portuguese-speaking countries. The seminar is targeted to participants from institutions and users that generate biodiversity data, including researchers, policy makers, protected areas managers, environmental NGOs, and has the following objectives:
- present GBIF, by introducing the facility, how to access and use information and how to participate by publishing biodiversity data, including the importance of the participation of a country in GBIF;
- provide access to and use of data through the GBIF portal, with reference to the available data for Guinea-Bissau;
- introduce computer tools, and manuals for availability and use of biodiversity data;
In the seminar, Rui Figueira, the Portuguese Node Manager, will make presentations about GBIF, the tools and resources available and the acces to data through the international portal. There will be also a presentation about the Geographic Information System of IBAP by its collaborator, Eliseu Benate.
The Portuguese Node of GBIF is developing the project GBIF PALOP - Promote GBIF in the African Portuguese speaking countries through documentation and seminars. This project aims to increase the capacity of Portuguese-speaking countries about GBIF and the use of biodiversity information through the production of manuals and documents in Portuguese, translated from English versions available on the GBIF portal. Under the project are also run workshops about GBIF in the capitals of three African Portuguese-speaking countries, the first of them took place in Luanda in September 2015, and the second in Maputo, in May 2016.