Workshop: Bases para a Conservação
da Biodiversidade do Estado de São Paulo
Comments by Robin O'Malley
Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs
US Department of the Interior
MS 1061 MIB
Room 6226
1849 C Street, NW
Washington DC 20240
202-208-4376
202-208-4561 fax
email: romalley@ios.doi.gov
General Comments
- Since a significant portion of the workshop was conducted in
Portuguese, and since I do not speak Portuguese, I am able to comment on
the overall goals and structure of the workshop, not on specific outcomes
or sessions. This applies most clearly to the second portion of the
workshop, held at Serra Negra.
- The initial planning session, held in Campinas, consisted of
presentations by a number of guest speakers from otuside of Brazil.
National programs in Costa Rica, Mexico, the US, and Australia, and
several regional or global programs (Inter-American Biodiversity
Information Network, Species 2000) and several biodiversity data
management approaches were highlighted, providing workshop leaders with
a good sense of both the technology and organization of current state
of the art biodiversity informatics efforts. Some presentations were
repeated in shortened form in Serra Negra, although language
difficulties clearly limited the effectiveness of this second round.
- The selection of workshop attendees was a critical aspect of its
success. The interaction between scientists that generate and hold
data, policymakers that need information for conservation and
management, and funding agencies is an extremely powerful and positive
approach. The fact that both São Paulo State and Brazilian national
governments were represented appeared to magnify the benefit of this
approach.
- The interaction between policy makers and scientists, with the goal
of identifying necessary information for making key biodiversity
management decisions, and the location, status, and accessability of
that information, was a very positive aspect of the workshop. Such
interactions ensure that scientific activities are undertaken with a
clear understanding of the priorities of those who will use the
resulting information. Conversely, policymakers can become aware of
the strengths, weaknesses, gaps, and accessability of information they
require.
- Overall, I thought the organization and objectives of the workshop were
excellent. While I was not able to participate in significant aspects of the
workshop, and thus cannot judge the nature of the interactions or the products
developed, I would commend the organizers for their efforts. The sole factor
preventing an even higher level of success for the workshop was one that was
outside the immediate control of any participants. This factor is the
inability
of several, if not most, of the foreign invitees to speak Portuguese.
ROBIN O'MALLEY
email: romalley@ios.doi.gov
See the Inter-American Biodiversity Information Network (IABIN) Website at
http://www.nbs.gov/nbii/iabin
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