Actions related to objective 7.1

Full text of the objective 7.1 "Compile and synthesise existing data and information, and disseminate this knowledge to a wider audience" from the National Strategy

Flanders:

Newsletters of the Agency for Nature and Forests and of the NGO's include information on biodiversity in general or for specific sites and are widely distributed.

Overall compilation of scientific information and sunthesis of existing data is done by the Institute for Nature & Forest: e.g.

1. studies on the current distribution of species and monitoring of their populations;
2. studies on the (ecological) typology of communities and ecotopes, their geographical distribution and temporal variation;
3. the Nature Report (NARA), that is drawn up biennially and provides an overview of the status of nature in the Flemish Region, and includes also a summary for wider audience.

Webbased databanks are being developed to compile monitoring information from the Institute for Nature & Forest, from NGO's and scientific publications from universities and other institutions. Yearly reports on scientific information on biodiversity are also published by provincially based organisations (KONA's).Compilation and synthesis of scientific data on the environment is carried out by the Vlaamse Milieumaatschappij and published through their two-yearly reports.

• TWOL-databank
• Project 34 wetenschappelijk onderzoek
• MR404 overleg en coördinatie verbeteren (rond kennisverwerving)
• MR405 Bruikbaarheid en beschikbaarheid van de resultaten verhogen

Brussels:

Information collected on flora and fauna in the Brussels Capital Region is compiled and discussed in atlasses (avifauna, herpetofauna, mosses, lichens, flora...).
General information on species and sites is also disseminated via management plans and scientific reports.
Information is also disseminated via the Report on the State of the Environment.
Information is also disseminated via website.

Walloon Region:

Une page web du site de la DGRNE « Promenades et randonnées » présente les différents sites web qui permettent de découvrir la nature, que ce soit à pied, à vélo ou à cheval.
A l'initiative de la DGRNE, un groupe de travail sur l'accessibilité des sites naturels aux personnes handicapées a été mis en place. Il vise à :

• Favoriser par tous les moyens l'accessibilité des sites naturels aux personnes handicapées
• Améliorer et augmenter la signalétique et l'accompagnement de ces sites.
• Établir un recensement complet et le plus exact possible des ressources de ces sites.

Federal:

Country study ‘Biodiversity in Belgium'
BioBel: BioBel is a reference database developed and maintained by the Belgian Biodiversity Platform (an initiative of the Belgian Science Policy). It provides a unique and centralized access to the expertise and resources available in Belgium, in the field of biodiversity. Accurate and up-to-date information on institutions, research units, researchers, projects and collections related to biodiversity in Belgium can be freely retrieved trough the database query tools.
GBIF: The scope of GBIF's activities includes working toward making it possible to draw information from molecular, species, and ecological databases all at the same time. The Belgian Biodiversity Platform coordinates GBIF's activities in Belgium. As national node of GBIF the Belgian Biodiversity Platforms collects scientific data produced in Belgium and makes it widely available.The platform has been instrumental in making an important number of Belgian Biodiversity collections and databases searchable through the GBIF web portal, or are in the course of being made accessible.
ENBI (European Network for Biodiversity Information): Making non-European biodiversity data in European repositories globally available. The Belgian Biodiversity Platform contributed by providing access through the internet to taxonomic reference lists, digitised images and collecting data maintained in selected repositories in Belgium.
SCAR-MarBIN (Marine Biodiversity Information Network): this project aims at establishing and supporting a distributed system of interoperable databases, which will form a coordinated network under the aegis of SCAR (Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research) as part of the new "EBA" programme (Evolution and biodiversity in the Antarctic). SCAR-MarBIN will compile existing information and manage new information on Antarctic marine biodiversity, by coordinating, supporting, completing and optimizing databases containing such information. The Belgian Biodiversity Platform is coordinating this network.
Harmonia information system: an interoperable database dedicated to non-native species introduced by man on the Belgian territory or in neighbour areas after 1500. It focuses on naturalised species that readily colonize semi-natural ecosystems and exert a negative impact on the environment, for which ecological and impact information is provided. The system is managed by the Belgium Forum on Invasive Species (Belgian Biodiversity Platform).

Future actions:

• Development of a web portal, in accordance with obligations in the framework of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), as a basis for a national register of species;
• Development of databases to access ongoing and past studies and research, presented in a format and language accessible for a non-specialist, wide audience.