Draft BIMR Policy Paper to be adopted by BIMR Regional Platform in first half of 2020

A draft BIMR Policy Paper, as regional strategic plan for biodiversity information management and reporting, should be compiled, reviewed and adopted by the BIMR Regional Platform (BIMR RP) and further endorsed by the Biodiversity Task-Force (BD TF) in the first half of 2020, said Ana Štrbenac, GIZ consultant in charge of coordination of the BIMR Policy Paper development, after the Second BIMR RP meeting.

The meeting, held on December 4, 2019 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, gathered 15 participants – representatives of institutions of regional economies and international organizations, in order to discuss progress of activities in the scope of the BIMR 2 project, including cooperation with Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and Distributed System of Scientific Collections (DiSSCo), and future plans. Furthermore, BIMR RP meeting participants continue to work on preparation of the BIMR Policy Paper through facilitated workshop.

SEE Regional economies continue to work together with international partners GBIF and DiSSCo on development of BIMR Policy Paper, as regional strategic plan for biodiversity information SEE.

BIMR RP became an associate member of the BD TF and, as such, it will be able to actively contribute to the work of the BD TF, as well as receive advise and support from this body, including future endorsement of the BIMR Policy Paper.

Partnership with relevant international organizations and initiatives – GBIF and DiSSCo is growing, with emphasis on capacity building for biodiversity data mobilization and data use by decision makers, as well as on mobilization of collections from natural history museums and faculties to contribute to the vision of having One European Collection of scientific assets.

Policy Paper to shape up desired future for BIMR in the SEE region in the 2020-2025 period

Ana Štrbenac says that “the BIMR Policy Paper is a strategic document aimed to shape up desired future for the biodiversity information management and reporting in the SEE region in the 2020 – 2025 period”.

“It should be stressed that this document is being prepared with the active participation of representatives of the regional economies, as well as international partners, through workshops organized in scope of the BIMR RP meetings. Such an approach fosters the exchange of experience and knowledge and formulation of ideas of mutual interest, which was clearly shown during the second BIMR Policy Paper development workshop. Based on outcomes of this and previous workshop, a Draft document should be compiled, reviewed and adopted by the BIMR RP and further endorsed by the BD TF in the first half of 2020,” she said.

Giorgi Lebanidze, GIZ Advisor, Management  of natural resources and safeguarding of ecosystem services for sustainable rural development in the South Caucasus – ECOserve reflected on his first time participation at the BIMR RP meeting:

“I found the Second BIMR Regional Platform meeting very interesting. It gave me a great opportunity to learn about implemented or on-going activities in the Western Balkans as well as future plans and possible options for cooperation. Besides, I had a chance to meet new people and exchange experiences from our projects. From my side, I gave a presentation about Georgia’s National Biodiversity Monitoring System (NBMS) and was asked by some of Balkan colleagues for further information on it. That stresses the importance of such meetings for mutual exchanges and fostering cooperation on regional level.”

BIMR Regional Platform implements joint actions that promote regional cooperation

At the GIZ ORF BDU BIMR Kick-off Meeting (September 2016), participants supported the idea to establish BIMR Regional Platform.

The main purpose of the Platform is to strengthen capacities, performance and transfer knowledge, skills and experiences within their respective institutional structures in the field of data management and reporting in the SEE region, and implement joint actions that promote regional cooperation. In this capacity, the Platform serves as a consultative regional technical group.

The Platform consists of the nominated representatives from the Ministries of Environment, Environmental Protection Agencies and Institutes for Nature Conservation from SEE and Croatia. There were 20 members in 2016, while the number of members increased to 26 in 2019.

BIMR Platform ’s activities aiming to enhance transparency in biodiversity data management at the regional level by strengthening the capacities of BIMR Regional Platform in order to meet CBD and EU requirements are supported within the BIMR component of the Open Regional Fund for South East Europe – Implementation of Biodiversity Agreements (ORF BDU), commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ).