In implementing COP decision V/9, paragraph 4, Belgium designated in 2001 the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels as its National Focal Point to the Global Taxonomy Initiative.

The overacting objective of Belgium’s GTI National Focal Point is to reduce the so-called taxonomic impediment that hinders the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

The specific objective of the Belgian GTI is to help with the installment of the needed taxonomic and curatorial capacity in developing countries.  To that end the Belgian GTI NFP has developed a demand-driven program of work that involves training, liberation of taxonomic data and know how  and international and institutional cooperation.

The main sponsor of the Belgian GTI National Focal Point is the Belgian Development Cooperation.

To learn more on the linkage between taxonomy and development; click here.

News

• 14 October 2009. Lucid, version 3.5 released
• 1 October 2009 - GTI draft site launched
• 25 September 2009 - Call for Scholarships in African Zoology and Wood Biology open
• 9 September 2009 - Synthesys 2 launched!
• 1 July 2009 - Volume 6 of Abc Taxa released.