South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) is hosting a conference at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town, South Africa from May 19-22, 2015. The conference, entitled Africa Rising: Mobilizing Biodiversity Data for Sustainable Development, is being organized in partnership with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), United Nations Environment Programme – World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), and the USAID Resilience in the Limpopo Basin Programme (RESILIM).
The event is funded in part by the JRS Biodiversity Foundation, emanating from the project, Mobilizing African’s Biodiversity Data. The project aims to develop national strategies for capturing, digitizing and publishing Africa’s policy-relevant biodiversity data while strengthening regional capacity and collaboration in biodiversity information management.
Objectives of the conference include:
- Increase awareness and understanding of the possibilities and solutions that biodiversity data offers for sustainable development in Africa
- Strengthen and bring attention to relevant resources, tools, and learning networks for building effective biodiversity information systems in Africa
- Encourage political commitment and articulate a course of action for mobilizing and mainstreaming Africa’s policy-relevant biodiversity data
Click here for more details about the conference.