According to the National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act (NEMBA) (Act 10 of 2004), the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) is mandated “ to collect, generate, process, coordinate and disseminate information about biodiversity and the sustainable use of indigenous biological resources and establish and maintain databases in this regard”. It was with this purpose in mind that SANBI’s Biodiversity Information Management (BIM) Directorate was established.

The BIM Directorate is comprised of several units: Biodiversity GIS (BGIS), SANBI’s Integrated Biodiversity Information Systems (SIBIS), South African Node of the Global Information Facility (SABIF) and Biodiversity Monitoring. Each of the units acquires, manages and disseminates different types of data, through their respective websites and databases. The BGIS unit deals solely with spatial biodiversity-related data used to inform land-use planning (http://bgis.sanbi.org), whilst SABIF deals with specimen records and images (http://www.sabif.ac.za).    

This presentation will look at the primary mission of the various BIM units and how these units go about achieving their goals. It will also discuss the various issues grappled with, and how BIM is ultimately using their learning experiences to shape the landscape of biodiversity information management in South Africa. It will look at SANBI’s role in promotion of standards and effecting cooperation and synergy between partner organizations, through regular training sessions, workshops and its annual forum.