This project aims to strengthen the collaboration between GBIF Cameroon, GBIF Benin and GBIF France through the CESP programme. This collaboration will enable GBIF Cameroon to receive guidance and technical assistance from GBIF France and GBIF Benin. The project will increase sharing of experiences between the three nodes, as well as between the former beneficiaries of BID funding. It will also allow the promotion of GBIF through training workshops and the conception, production and dissemination of support materials during the workshop.
The goals of the project are:
- to train the Cameroon node staff and potential data holders;
- to connect new data sets to the GBIF Portal and to register new data publishers from Cameroon;
- to reinforce the national biodiversity information network;
- to update the Biodiversity Information System of Cameroon and GBIF Portal with the new data;
- to hold a training workshop in one institution (University of Yaoundé);
- to assess the needs of various stakeholders in biodiversity conservation and management in terms of data uses, and;
- to produce and use four communication support materials during the national workshop and other activities related to biodiversity.
Project progress
Beginning with the activity to identify and mobilize data holders at the national level, the GBIF Cameroon team began the project with conducting missions in some institutions (University of Maroua, University of Ngaoundere, University of Buea, RASTOMA and the Millennium Ecological Museum), to raise the awareness of the importance of publishing on the GBIF Portal. This has resulted in 52 data producers from 12 institutions being mobilized and four new institutions registering as data providers on the GBIF Portal and two enrolled by GBIF on behalf of Cameroon.
In January 2022 a capacity building workshop was organized in Yaoundé for members of the GBIF Cameroon network on the use of GBIF tools and standards. This face-to-face workshop strengthened links between members of the GBIF Cameroon node. The mentors from France and Benin however had to attend virtually, due to travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Two restitution workshops then followed and were held in March 2022 at the University of Yaoundé 1 and University of Maroua, with online support from the mentors in France and Benin. These workshops aimed to assess the capacity of the members of the GBIF Cameroon network to deliver the training on the use of standards and publishing tools of GBIF received during the capacity building workshop held earlier in January, as well as train other teachers and researchers from the respective institutions on the identification of interesting data sources for publication by GBIF, their standardization and the process of data publication.
The project was able to include the second restitution workshop as a result of changing planned implementation costs due to mentors not being able to travel, and with the availability of an online training platform by GBIF France, the project was also able through its capacity building activities to increase the level of knowledge of GBIF tools and standards among participants.
At final reporting results of the project have included the training of a large number of potential contributors and raising awareness of the importance of GBIF among a large number of researchers. The project has also collected data and published to GBIF several datasets containing 12,546 data occurrences of Cameroon flora and fauna.
Despite the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent cancellation of physical attendance from mentors in France and Benin, all the activities programmed within the project’s framework were carried out, although some not fully completed. Post project, activities envisaged by the project team include continuing data mobilization work and extending the knowledge acquired.
