BioNET-INTERNATIONAL : the Global Network for Taxonomy

1. BioNET-INTERNATIONAL: the Global Network for Taxonomy Name of presenter...

2. What is TAXONOMY? • Taxonomy is the science of discovering, identifying, classifying and naming organisms (species), their life cycles, ecological roles, functions and relationships; • It provides an information system which is the foundation of all biology; • It is the tool with which the immense biodiversity of living organisms may be recorded and understood

3. No Taxonomy = No Knowledge • Biodiversity inventories; • Bio-indicators of change eg. global warming; • Id. and action/control of alien invasives; • Production/improvement of agriculture/ forestry/fisheries, pests/diseases, new varieties; • Quarantine and access to export markets; • Human health disease vectors; • GMO’s and genetic engineering

4. Larger Grain Borer (LGB) • introduced into Tanzania in late 1970’s in “Aid” maize • lack of early recognition allowed the LGB to multiply and spread; • subsequent crop losses due to the LGB US$88 million annually • little ability to track its spread

5. LGB (cont.) • in addition between 1984 and 1992 the average annual cost of control to the Tanzanian Government was more than US$3.0 million per annum • IF the pest had been correctly identified it could have been destroyed or at worst contained and prevented from spreading

6. Cassava Mealybug (CMB) • introduced into DRC in early 1970s through plant material from South America; • spread rapidly across tropical Africa threatening to destroy the primary source of food for more than 200m people; • crop losses estimated up to 84%;

7. CMB (cont.) • a parasitoid was identified, bred and released but had no effect; • further study suggested mis-id; • small wasp (Epidinocarsis lopezi) found to be a parasitoid for the newly identified CMB - now used as an effective control in some 26 African countries; • estimated benefit-cost ratio = 150:1

8. 120 000 insect spp. 8000 fungal spp. 175 bacteria 300 viruses 500 nematode spp Reduce agric. output by 40%! No capability to analyse related info - distributions, ecological parameters, movements, invasives, aliens, disease vectors, propagation, impacts, uniqueness, relationships, etc Eg. of needs: Ethiopia In agric alone:

9. Sustainable Development • Taxonomy is basis for all biology - and thus environmental management/sustainability; • but taxonomy is not an end in itself, just a means to an end; • the associated info is what decisions are based on; • dependent on funding of finite programmes of capacity building

10. What is BioNET- INTERNATIONAL? • a global network for taxonomic capacity building to support sustainable development; • comprised of sub-regional networks of developing country institutions (South-South)

11. What is BioNET? (cont.) • supported by a consortium of developed country expert institutions (North-South); • advised by the BioNET-INTERNATIONAL Consultative Group; • managed by a Technical Secretariat

12. CMB (cont.) • a parasitoid was identified, bred and released but had no effect; • further study suggested mis-id; • small wasp (Epidinocarsis lopezi) found to be a parasitoid for the newly identified CMB - now used as an effective control in some 26 African countries; • estimated benefit-cost ratio = 150:1

13. Why? In response to the global taxonomic crisis occasioned by the coincidental: • withdrawal of free taxonomic services formerly available to developing countries at the expert centers of the developed world; and • the dramatic increase in the need for taxonomic services, following the 1992 Earth Summit, CBD, etc

14. What is BioNET-INTERNATIONAL’s Purpose? To create sustainable mechanisms to overcome the ‘taxonomic impediment’ and promote self-reliance in taxonomic capacity in the developing world

15. How? South-South • by means of “Technical Cooperation Networks” of Locally Organised and Operated Partnerships (LOOPs) for South-South cooperation whereby; • existing taxonomic resources in the various sub-regions of the developing world are pooled, shared and optimized

16. How? North-South • Transfer of relevant information, skills, expertise and new technologies; • from the expert centers of the developed world to the relevant institutions in the LOOPs; • via donor-funded programmes for institutional and human capacity building i.e. North-South

17. Conceptual model of the Global Network

18. CARINET A TCN for Capacity-Building in Taxonomy in the Caribbean (CARIFORUM) Centred on institutional partnerships for South-South cooperation in 22 countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Surinam, Trinidad & Tobago and other Windward and Leeward Islands

19. SAFRINET A TCN for Capacity-Building in Taxonomy in southern Africa (SADC) Centred on institutional partnerships for South-South cooperation in 15 countries: Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe

20. CMB (cont.) • a parasitoid was identified, bred and released but had no effect; • further study suggested mis-id; • small wasp (Epidinocarsis lopezi) found to be a parasitoid for the newly identified CMB - now used as an effective control in some 26 African countries; • estimated benefit-cost ratio = 150:1

21. EAFRINET A TCN for Capacity-Building in Taxonomy in East Africa Centred on institutional partnerships for South-South cooperation in 6 countries (+3 more pending): Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zanzibar (+ Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda)

22. WAFRINET A TCN for Capacity-Building in Taxonomy in West Africa Centred on institutional partnerships for South-South cooperation in 18 countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo

23. ASEANET A TCN for Capacity Building in Taxonomy in South East Asia (ASEAN) Centred on institutional partnerships for SOUTH-SOUTH cooperation in 10 countries: Brunei-Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam

24. PACINET A TCN for Capacity-Building in Taxonomy in the South Pacific Island States and Territories Centred on institutional partnerships for South-South cooperation in 25 PICTs: American Samoa, Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Hawaii, Kiribati, Marianas Islands, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna, Western Samoa

25. EuroLOOP A TCN for Developing Country LOOPs (BIOCON) A consortium of more than 100 expert institutions in 23 countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Scotland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and Wales

26. The Global Network of BioNET-INTERNATIONAL