Summary Report
AP-BON-ESABII symposium “Biodiversity Information Management”
AP-BON-ESABII symposium “Biodiversity Information Management” was held as one of the side
events of the 2nd ASEAN Conference on Biodiversity in Bangkok, Thailand as below:
Date: 17 February, 2016
Venue: Centara Grand ＆ Bangkok Convention Centre 22nd floor, Lotus Suite 8
Participants: about 30 persons from ten countries<Background and objectives>
The objectives of this symposium are to enhance awareness, understanding and appreciation ofexperts / practitioners on the efforts undertaken to collect, organize, and analyze biodiversity data at
the global, regional, and national levels.
<Summary of the proceedings>
Chairman, Dr Sheila Vergara gave the opening speech, followed by presentations and discussion
among the experts managing biodiversity information.
1. The GEO BON Network Facility
Dr. Jorg Freyhof, GEO BON
・The ASEAN region is of immense value because of its rich and diverse biodiversity resources but
also a hotspot of biodiversity loss. GEO BON is very strongly engaged in the ASEAN region astarget for biodiversity conservation.
・GEO BON thrives to provide a global biodiversity observation network that contributes to effective
management policies for the world's biodiversity and ecosystems. To fill the gaps, GEO BON
supports the development of national monitoring systems through BON in a Box. It supports theestablishment of regional biodiversity information platforms and systems. The GEO BON'sactivities develop Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) that can measure changes of biodiversity
through structured and measurable indicators.
・We encourage ASEAN Member States (AMS) to address data gap in the ASEAN region by getting
involved in generating observations by taking advantage of the tools like BON in a Box and to form
national BONs that are connected to national governments and CBD national focal points.

2. The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) [Video Presentation]
Mr. Tim Hirsch, GBIF
・GBIF was founded with the aim of promoting and facilitating a free and open access to biodiversity
data for use in research and policy. Through the platform (www.gbif.org) a considerable amount ofdata has been mobilized approximately 656 million separate species occurrence records covering 1.6
million species in some 15,594 datasets shared and published by nearly 800 institutions around theworld. The uses and users of Biodiversity data are equally dispersed on various from scientific uses
such as taxonomy, pharmacy, conservation, food security, land use planning, responses to climatechange, etc.
・An important part of what is being developed recently at GBIF is to provide a more useful andpractical way, in which data used in research and policy can be properly cited and attributed to those
who collected the data and then to share this data using standard formats. This is important inproviding the incentive and recognition in data sharing and publication effort.
・We have invited our partners in Asia to propose projects for use of Biodiversity Information Fundfor Asia (BIFA) and the projects approved for 2016 include:
a. Biodiversity informatics 'cookbook' and regional training
b. Development of national biodiversity database system in Viet Nam
c. Mobilizing biodiversity data from ASEAN Protected areasd. Strengthening GBIF Philippines
・Avail of the BIFA provided by GBIF to member countries to jumpstart information generation andsharing of biodiversity data in your country and the region.
3. Data Publication through the Integrated Publishing Toolkit (IPT)Dr. Yu Huang Wang, TaiBIF
・ Global Biodiversity Informatics Outlook (GBIO), that is a result of the Global Biodiversity
Informatics Conference participated by various scientists in Copenhagen in July 2012, concluded
that there is a big lack of data to support decision for biodiversity conservation. The conference
further concluded that data need to be standardized, so these can be useful information for
integration and analysis to support decision and policy for conservation.
・The Integrated Publication Toolkit (IPT) is an open source data publication platform developed by
GBIF to enable data providers to publish and make their data available for analysis and integration.
By using the IPT, data providers will be able to generate and publish biodiversity information thatconforms to standard acceptable formats such as the Ecological Meta Data Language (EML) andDarwin Core terms and thus can be integrated for analysis of status and trends.
・Advantages of IPT:a. Facilitates publishing data papers
b. Proper citation: provider is given due credit for the use of the data

・ The Biodiversity Information Fund for Asia (BIFA) was created from contribution to GBIF
supplementary funds from MOEJ. Four projects will be implemented this year, two of which will beimplemented in Southeast Asia.
4. FishBase Products and Tools
Dr. Christine Casal, FishBase
・ FishBase is a global Information System on finfishes that is freely available and support
management of aquatic natural resources from both conservation and exploitation perspectives. Our
major assets include contributions of over 2,230 expert collaborators worldwide throughpublications, references, databases and pictures. FishBase also offers different types of conservation
tools designed for a wide range of users and stakeholders. People ‒ 700,000 visits per month ‒ arelooking at in the database. Data on fishes in the ASEAN is a total of 7,779 fish species including
4,969 marine and 2,992 freshwater.
・Products of FishBase:a. Fish identification tools,b. Species summaries,c. Interactive field guide tool for fish,
d. Gap analysis as basis to do more research,e. Aqua maps to show the species richness in a particular area or distribution maps for the species,etc.
5. Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) [Video Presentation]
Mr. Ward Appeltans, OBIS・The OBIS consists of 46 million observations of 117,000 marine species, and 1,000 papers whichhave cited OBIS. OBIS has 500 data providers, they are all connected to about 120 OBIS nodes,
which collect the data from the providers. One of these OBIS nodes is the ACB which is responsible
for Southeast Asia or SEA-OBIS. Southeast Asia is very biodiversity rich, but the number of OBIS
records in Southeast Asia is very poor, so there is definitely a huge gap. Its contribution to Future
Earth, Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs), Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) and GEO BONand defining essential variables in BON in a Box can determine and detect change in marine species
diversity.
・We have been trained scientists and data managers in the project office in Belgium and also trained
people for data cleaning, formatting, publishing data, and providing tools for data access. Theseframeworks had been successful and it would be good if these could be repeated in your region.
6. Development of Field Guides for ASEAN Plant Biodiversity
Dr. Edwino Fernando, CFNR-UPLB

・Taxonomic information is essential for various stakeholders such as park managers, conservation
workers and field biologists as tools for addressing critical issues of species conservation andmanagement. Field guides are synthesis of information specific to a particular taxon, and can serve
as a tool for stakeholders to establish taxonomic information on species managed. Field guides canbe in various forms such as flash cards, picture keys, brochures, digital field guides, applications, etc.
There is increasing demand on field guides as more plant species need to be identified formanagement and conservation purposes. Field guides are most often designed for plants as there ismore available taxonomic information on flora than fauna.
・ACB in collaboration with MOEJ (ESABII Secretariat), and the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund(JAIF) has initiated a Field Guide Series on ASEAN plant biodiversity in small book format.
Development of field guides for more taxonomic groups is encouraged to enhance capacities ofregional and national stakeholders to identify species in their respective management areas.
7. Progress and challenges of ESABII in South East Asia region
Dr. Dedy Darnaedi, LIPI
・ESABII was established by in 2012 by 14 countries in the Asian region. The major activities ofESABII are to conduct regional taxonomy workshop on taxonomy, development of training manuals,CITES policies and identification of trade species. Southeast Asia is megadiverse region, but there issignificant gap. We need to identify and understand these species, so taxonomic capacity building iscontinued to build the skills and understanding of biodiversity for management and conservation.
・ESABII Initiatives:a. ESABII taxonomic training; Training of Trainers (TOT), DNA analysis, morphology, ocular andfield inspection, etc.
b. Development of Information :i. Information on migratory birds
ii. Threatened mammals databaseiii. Threatened vascular plants species database・Capacity building in understanding biodiversity is crucial issue, so regional training workshops andToT on taxonomy, para taxonomy and public awareness, need to be continued. Sharing experienceand preparing simple book such as guide books, manuals, ID key need to be strengthened.
(Discussions)Dr. Freyhof: How to monitor the success of these training courses?
Dr. Darnaedi: There is no mechanism to evaluate the training because some of participants are not real
taxonomist r there are managers, university lecturers, officials, etc. Therefore, ESABII and ACB are
required to have selection criteria of participants.

8. Asia-Pacific Biodiversity Observation Network: An Introduction from co-chairs
Dr. Eun-Shik Kim, Kookmin University
・AP-BON is a regional initiative spearheaded by MOEJ. The history of AP-BON starting from its
conception in 2007 in connection with global to national BONs, CBD-COPs and IPBES. Thenetwork has had 6 meetings with the 7th meeting to be conducted on 19-20 Feb 2016. What we havedone for the last ten years is to identify the gaps of the network.
・Activities:
a. Publications of APBON Book
b. Conceptual documents
c. Establish a coordinated AP network that gathers and shares information on biodiversity andecosystem services
d. Coordinated network establishede. Network of programs
f. Next steps – stronger and collaborative mechanism to support these activities
g. Some potential products were discussed in 5th meeting: regional red list, key biodiversity areasand publishing data papers
・Turning Points:
a. IPBES assessments have started
b. A new GEO strategic plan 2016 – 2025 is being implementedc. A core project S9 sponsored by MOEJ will end in March 2016
9. The ABCDNet
Dr. Maofang Luo, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)・There is still a wide gap in the level of data sharing in Asia and other biologically rich regions. In
this context, ABCDNet was established in 2013 by the Biodiversity committee of Chinese Academyof Sciences to build a regional cooperation platform for integrating and sharing biodiversity
information in Asia.
・ABCDNet activities:
a. Workshop on biodiversity data sharing environment in Asia to make the road map of thenetwork
b. Information systems development:
i. Catalogue of China
ii. Asian Bird records
c. Major ongoing projects include the Asia Species Database and Asia Red List Database (15Asian countries, 58,000 records).
d. Network of resources: 400 Asia network are available online
・Next steps:

a. Book compiling: Biodiversity Informatics in Asia
b. Updating of databasec. Mapping Asia Plants (MAP) project focusing on the 100 most endangered plants in Asia andPlant Diversity Information platform in Southeast Asia.
10. The NatureServe Dashboard
Dr. Xuemei Han, NatureServe・NatureServe is a non-profit conservation organization and its mission is to provide the scientificbasis for effective conservation action. The Dashboard project discussed today is an effort globally,including Southeast Asia Mekong basin countries, where we partnered with ACB to generate andvisualize many of the regional indicators. This project started four years ago, with funding support
from the MacArthur Fund, and by working with a wide range of international partners. We aim toprovide an indicator visualization and communication tool to measure success and challenges
toward conservation.
・The NatureServe Dashboard is a web-enabled, interactive biodiversity indicators dashboard tool tohelp track progress toward Aichi targets, support national monitoring and reporting and inform
outcome-based policy-making for the protection of natural resources. The dashboard developed
maps and graphics for three geographically diverse regions of critical biodiversity concern including
the Tropical Andes, the African Great Lakes and the Greater Mekong region. NatureServe
Dashboard provides visual demonstration of changes in biodiversity, the red list index for exploited
species. The dashboard will be expanded to cover at least 50 countries in the world.
11. ASEAN Clearing-House Mechanism
Mr. Christian Elloran, ACB
・The ASEAN Regional Clearing House Mechanism (ASEAN CHM) is a one-stop web service of all
biodiversity information in the ASEAN region. It was established to provide information ofbiodiversity in the region as bases for science-based analysis, decision making and policy
development.
・The ASEAN CHM provides free and easy access on:a. Species database (68,750 species)b. Protected areas databasec. Invasive Alien Species
d. Referencese. Knowledge products
f. Biodiversity Informatics
・ACB populates the ASEAN CHM with data and information acquired from national CHM websitesof AMS and global biodiversity data holders. Various online tools (electronic library, poster, video,etc.) are being developed and made available from the website to assist the AMS in organizing andmanaging their biodiversity data.
12. The Evolution of the Malaysian Clearing-House Mechanism
Mrs. Hamidah Mamat, FRIM
・Malaysia Clearing-House Mechanism is being re-branded into Malaysia Biodiversity Information
System (MyBIS) and it will be launched this year. MyBIS formerly is a platform for the efficientexchange of biodiversity information among stakeholders in Malaysia. MyBIS boosts of four newfeatures ‒ discover, explore, analysis and references ‒ which enable users to search and analyze
taxonomic information particularly for endangered and endemic species as well as generateassessments particularly spatial data on protected areas.
・The national clearing-house mechanisms are necessary and important platforms for the efficientexchange of biodiversity information for biodiversity conservation and management. Thus, suchplatforms should be evolving, dynamic and responsive in its delivery of information to variousstakeholders particularly decision makers and policy makers.
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