Managing data effectively allows users to access and present information clearly. Zoom In

Data management for successful biodiversity monitoring in Africa

02-06-2008

A recent workshop in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, outlined how data management, analysis and presentation underpins effective conservation action and advocacy.

This was the second workshop of an EC Funded project which is 'instituting effective monitoring of biodiversity in Protected Areas (IBAs) as a contribution to reducing the rate of biodiversity loss in Africa'. The project is committed to delivering the highest possible standards of training. The workshop employed the assistance of highly-qualified instructors. At practical level, people need to know how many sites are getting better and how many sites are getting worse’ said Dr Julius Arinaitwe of the BirdLife Africa Partnership Secretariat.

“The participants learnt how to use the data and tools available within the Birdlife Partnership to produce scientifically rigorous analyses and how these can be incorporated into their programmes of work and publications” —Ian May, BirdLife International’s Information Management Global Coordinator

In her official opening remarks Madame Kabore, a representative of the Ministry of Environment in Burkina Faso, thanked BirdLife International for choosing Burkina Faso to host the workshop. “This workshop offers the opportunity to our countries to have competent human resources to complete biodiversity monitoring of protected areas. The close collaboration between the state and NGOs such as Naturama [BirdLife in Burkina Faso] is crucial for achieving the sustainable management of biodiversity. The commitment towards biodiversity monitoring in Burkina Faso is reflected through the establishment of: a technical structure in charge of ecological monitoring; the existence of ecological monitoring methods and tools; and the elaboration of sustainable management criteria and indicators of the fauna and its habitat. However, some difficulties remain like organisational or institutional problems, coordination in the methods and tools used, and the inadequate materials and funds. These are problems that make data capitalisation and availability of scientific results a challenge”, said Madame Kabore.

The workshop equipped project Partners in Africa with the requisite skills for handling data. It also drew attention to data-barriers faced in the conservation community and discussed ways to address these challenges. While some barriers are technical in nature, many are institutional, legal and cultural in origin. The workshop focused on the technical aspects of data collection, management, analysis and presentation. It covered tabular and GIS data, along with the more political aspects of data distribution both to partners in a project and to a wider audience.

The workshop covered the following objectives:

• Provided an introduction into the WBDB, illustrated with demonstrations and allow participants and decision makers some hands on time with the WBDB
• Demonstrated how the other models are helping to revolutionize the way conservationists can create, store, and view biodiversity data
• Discovered, viewed, and shared conservation maps and data.
• Provided an opportunity for discussing data protocols to enhance the information sharing within and across the network, technique sharing, synergisms, common data and accessibility
• Appreciated the presentation of the data and expected standards of reports for the Africa IBA Monitoring Project
• Provided a platform for countries to share experiences and ‘wisdom’ learned in their efforts so far in handling data at national level and linkages to the global repositories

Participants from a recent ‘Training of Trainers’ Workshop in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Zoom In

“If you don’t understand what is happening in the data, you could only be telling part of the story… Good data mean good science, leading to successful conservation.” —Ian Fisher, Head of International Information Management at BirdLife International/RSPB

Ian Fisher, the Head of International Information Management at BirdLife International/RSPB (BirdLife in the UK) had wise words to share with members of the BirdLife Partnership. ‘If you don’t understand what is happening in the data, you could only be telling part of the story - be creative about how you use your data and the graphs associated with them, but be careful that you are correctly representing what is happening to your environments. BirdLife International believes in the power of information and hence there has been investment is this need in order to prove to governments that it is not just about bird watching. Good data mean good science, leading to successful conservation.’

Upon completion of the workshop, the participants had acquired skills to:

• Use the WBDB and BirdLife’s Data Sharing Protocols to collect, manage, analyze and disseminate information on IBAs efficiently and effectively
• Impart skills to other staff within the Partner NGOS, collaborating government institutions and other stakeholders

It is anticipated that the recipients of the Regional level training will produce national biodiversity training manuals on data management and transfer the knowledge gained at national level.