GEO BON took part in the 8th meeting of the Asia Pacific Biodiversity Observation Network (AP-BON) which was hosted in the Biodiversity Research Center of the Academia Sinica, in Taipei, Taiwan on September 12th and 13th. The meeting was supported by the Ministry of Environment of Japan.
AP BON is the largest regional network of GEO BON. Its visions are to establish a coordinated Asia-Pacific network that gathers and shares information on biodiversity and ecosystem services; to provide tools for data collection, sharing, analysis and synthesis; and to contribute to improving the sustainable use of biodiversity.
Throughout the meeting, an emphasis was placed on the importance of sharing data on biodiversity and ecosystem services, including on approaches and tools for data sharing and management. Researchers at the Academia Sinica presented their work and advances in biodiversity monitoring using drones, camera trapping, and acoustic monitoring. This led to a discussion on data and information management, collaborative observations and shared resources within the AP BON. Further potential synergies were discussed, including on how to link Biodiversity Observation Networks to the Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTER).
GEO BON’s new Executive Secretary, Laetitia Navarro, attended the meeting to present the new structure of GEO BON and discuss how to connect AP BON and its members to the new working group and activities.
The meeting also addressed the contribution of AP BON to IPBES, including the involvement of several members as Coordinating Lead Authors, Lead Authors and Review Editors of the regional and sub-regional assessment of the IPBES (deliverable 2b) for Asia and the Pacific.