Chinese Academy of Sciences joins GBIF as Associate

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the national academy in China for the natural sciences, is the latest organization to become a GBIF Participant.

The Academy has signed the GBIF Memorandum of Understanding, and it is now an Associate Participant Organization in the network, with a place on the GBIF Governing Board and the authority to endorse institutions wishing to publish biodiversity datasets via GBIF.

To mark its entry into GBIF, the institution launched the GBIF-CAS node in a ceremony in Shanghai (see photo). It has started work on a data portal that will help mobilize data from China and elsewhere in Asia.

Keping Ma, Professor of Plant Ecology at the Institute of Botany, CAS, and temporary Head of Delegation to GBIF said, “As part of the GBIF family, CAS will work to promote the development of biodiversity informatics. Our priorities will be to publish data from China, promote the use of GBIF data and enhance the development and integration of biodiversity datasets from different institutions in the country.

“We hope to help address the biodiversity data gap of the GBIF network in Asia," he added.

CAS was established in 1949 and includes thirteen branches in various regions in China, over a hundred institutes and two universities. The headquarters of the Academy are located in the Chinese capital, Beijing.

The organization is active in many biodiversity informatics activities globally and in the Asian region, including the establishment of the Asia Biodiversity Conservation and Database Network (ABCDNet). It is the Chinese partner within the Catalogue of Life, the Encyclopedia of Life, the Biodiversity Heritage Library and a range of other international biodiversity initiatives. CAS is engaged in digitization of national collections, and collection of field observations and images from survey activities, as well as from the broader public.

DonaldHobern, Executive Secretary of GBIF, commented, “CAS is a natural partner forGBIF and we look forward to working with the Academy to integrate more datafrom east Asia into GBIF and to developing a closer relationship with China.”

GBIF网站新闻头条报道中国科学院加入

GBIF机构第20次理事会会议现场

GBIF-CAS全权代表马克平研究员、GBIF机构主席Joanne Daly博士和执行主任Donald Hobern博士合影