CBOL Signs Memorandum of Understanding with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)

On 25 March 2005, Dr. Scott Miller, Chair of CBOL, signed the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) Memorandum of Understanding, making CBOL an Associate Participant in GBIF. Data on species-level diversity is at the heart of CBOL's mission, and GBIF is a leading worldwide initiative in this area.

GBIF is an international organization devoted to creating a seamless, interoperable system that makes the world's information on biodiversity freely available via the Internet. To date, GBIF has established working partnerships with more than 100 data providers around the world who have made more than 65 million data records available through the GBIF portal. These records contain information on species and on specimens that are deposited in the natural history museums, herbaria and other biorepositories around the world. In signing the MOU, Dr. Miller said "CBOL has had strong links to GBIF from its inception, so it is very appropriate for us to formalize this important relationship by joining GBIF. It signals CBOL's commitment to working with other biodiversity initiatives by adding DNA barcode data to the growing biodiversity information infrastructure. GBIF is playing a critical role by integrating the world's information resources on biodiversity, and CBOL is happy to be working with them."

The relationship between CBOL and GBIF is reciprocal, because on 25 February, Dr. James Edwards, Executive Secretary of GBIF, signed the CBOL Memorandum of Cooperation. Further, he serves on the CBOL Executive Committee, and two of GBIF’s programme officers serve on CBOL’s working groups.