JRS celebrates the high-level launch of the Rwanda Biodiversity Information System (RBIS) on March 24, 2023. The development of RBIS has been supported by a JRS grant since 2019, and is designed to house available regional wetland biodiversity data on one platform, making data accessible for monitoring, decision-making, reporting, and biodiversity conservation throughout Rwanda.

The Center of Excellence in Biodiversity and Natural Resource Management (CoEB) at the University of Rwanda, identified this critical need for an accessible, open source, platform and on March 24 invited policy makers, researchers, informatics specialists and other stakeholders to gather for a demonstration of the new platform developed with JRS financial support. Attendees were delighted to view data repositories organized by different taxonomic groups and discussed the many possible uses of this critical information.

The RBIS platform is live!  Please visit the JRS grant profile Developing a Freshwater Biodiversity Information System for Sustainable Development and Climate Change Adaptation in Rwanda for more information.