Regional: Nature & Biodiversity | EC-CHM | EEA | EUNIS | ECNC | EPBRS

The following statement has also been endorsed by the participants of the European GTI Toolkit Workshop

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Statement from the Workshop:

‘Building Capacity for the Global Taxonomy Initiative (GTI) in a larger Europe’

21st – 23rd June 2004, International Academy for Nature Conservation (INA), Isle of Vilm, Germany

From 21st - 23rd June 2004, 16 GTI National Focal Points and invited experts representing 13 European countries (Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine) and three international organisations (CETAF, FishBase, GBIF) met at the International Academy for Nature Conservation (INA) of the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) on the island of Vilm for a workshop on ‘Building Capacity for the Global Taxonomy Initiative (GTI) in a larger Europe’. In summarising the discussions held and analysis undertaken, all participants agreed to the following statement.

The text of this statement was subsequently also endorsed by GTI NFPs from the Netherlands countries and BioNET-INTERNATIONAL, who were unable to attend the workshop.

Recalling Decisions V/9, VI/8 and VII/9 on the GTI of the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the participants expressed their appreciation for the willingness and support of national governments and stakeholder organisations to implement the GTI both nationally and at the European level.

Recognising the importance of the availability of taxonomic knowledge and resources to successfully meet the objectives of the CBD and to significantly reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by the year 2010 (the "2010 target"), participants of this workshop agreed to the following priorities for an efficient implementation of the GTI Programme of Work in Europe:

• establish and further develop GTI National Focal Points and provide them with adequate resources

• develop, at the European level, a toolkit for supporting the GTI implementation which can be adapted to national needs

• encourage GTI NFPs, together with relevant stakeholders in countries, to identify national priority projects for taxonomy

• encourage governments and relevant organisations to provide support for the implementation of nationally agreed taxonomic priorities and projects

• promote education and training in taxonomy at all levels in order to halt the loss of expertise in this field

• undertake efforts to facilitate trans-national access to and exchange of taxonomic resources for the purpose of biodiversity research and education

• increase public awareness on the role and importance of taxonomy for biodiversity conservation

• strengthen the regional approach in taxonomic studies on biodiversity

Furthermore, participants called for a follow-up to this workshop and for a continuation of the integration of the GTI in Europe. The exchange of relevant information and sharing of resources should be facilitated, and governments, IGOs, and all relevant stakeholders should be encouraged to participate and continue their support for the GTI