ARCOS Network

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Uneformation de quatre jours organisée par ARCOS a été conclue le vendredi 16 Décembre 2011, avec remise de 26 certificats à 26 stagiaires en informatique de la biodiversité, gestion des données et SIG. L’événement a eu lieu à Kigali et a rassemblé des professionnels de différentes institutions partenaires d’ARCOS du Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, République Démocratique du Congo et la Tanzanie. La formation était dirigée par le Directeur Régional des Systèmes d’Information à ARCOS, Zac Maritim, avec la contribution du Secrétariat du GBIF et les nœuds GBIF au Kenya, en Uganda et au Cameroun.

Les participants à la formation montrant leurs certificats, Photo CN/ARCOS

La formation était dans le cadre d’un projet régional visant à construire un portail régional sur la biodiversité, initié sous le financement du JRS Biodiversity Foundation et l’un des programmes clés d’ARCOS visant à promouvoir la surveillance de la biodiversité et les systèmes d’Information  dans le Rift Albertin (Programme ARBMIS).

Les participants à la formation se sont engagés à mettre à la bonne utilisation les compétences qu’ils ont acquises pour une action plus efficace de conservation dans le Rift Albertin grâce au réseautage et à l’utilisation de meilleures méthodes de la collecte et de partage de données,  à travers le groupe  de gestion de données et du SIG dans le Rift Albertin  mis en place sous le groupe communautaire  du GBIF.

?«Ce fut une excellente occasion de rencontrer des professionnels de différents horizons et pays », a déclaré Aline Njebarikanuye de l’Institut National pour l’Environnement et Conservation de la Nature (INECN / Burundi); «les compétences que nous avons acquises ici ne sont pas seulement pratiques mais aussi indispensables à la vie, car le SIG est désormais un outil multi-tâches et dont l’utilisation se généralise de plus en plus, et nous espérons que nous allons faire une différence dans nos institutions « , a ajouté la coordinatrice de suivi et d’évaluation à l’INECN.

Au moment ou les négociations sur les Changements Climatiques atteignent leur point culminant, ARCOS demande aux gouvernements se réunissant à Durban de démontrer leur leadership et volonté politique pour atteindre des résultats concrets en vue de sauver la planète et les humains.

Depuis Copenhague à Cancun et maintenant en Afrique au Durban, ARCOS continue d’insister sur l’urgence de prendre des décisions pour s’attaquer au plus grand problème que la terre fait face aujourd’hui.  ARCOS est déçu que les négociations de Durban n’adressent pas les problèmes fondamentaux.  Les gouvernements ont besoin de décider sur la seconde phase du Protocole de Kyoto et sur des bases légales pour un accord âpres 2015 incluant tous les pays, et s’engager pour attribuer des ressources financières en créant le Fond Vert sur le Climat. Le mécanisme de financement, qui canalisera des fonds vers les pays en voie de développement  pour attaquer les changements climatiques.

Comme dans d’autres écosystèmes de montagne, l’impact du changement climatique en Afrique affecte déjà les besoins de base des populations et les économies nationales, dit le Secrétaire Exécutif d’ARCOS  lors d’une Réunion Régionale sur le Développement Durable dans des Régions de Montagne Africaines, traitant du thème “Impacts des Changements Climatiques, Adaptions et Développent dans des Ecosystèmes Fragile” organisée par Partenariat de Montagne  à Mbale, Ouganda. Dans le Rift Albertin, l’un des écosystèmes très importants pour la biodiversité et des services écosystémiques pour l’humanité, tous les  pays de la région font déjà face aux problèmes d’inondations, de longues périodes de sécheresse, etc.

Position d’RCOS sur les Changements Climatiques

UNFCCC et Conférence de Durban sur le Climat

ARCOS is pleased to announce the arrival of Mr Zachary Kimutai Maritim as the Regional Information Systems Manager. Zac has 10 years experience in GIS/RS Data and Information Management. He has been charged with the responsibility of overseeing data collection, its processing, storage and dissemination for the purposes of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to aid in decision-making for conservation efforts. Zachary has regional experience spanning several Eastern, Central and Southern African countries including DRC, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, etc.  He has implemented large enterprise Geodatabases under ArcGIS Server and SQL Server as well as Postgre SQL and comprising ArcSDE and Web Mapping. He has conducted training and supervision of field staff in different countries on Handheld and Differential GPS and Mobile GIS (ArcPAD), RTK GPS, Total Station data collection for species monitoring, socio-economic surveys, etc. He has been a member of a Prime-Ministerial Committee on the study and recommendation of a National Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Government of Rwanda in liaison with other Regional Institutions such as the Regional Centre for Resource Surveys and Mapping based in Kenya and Butare National University of Rwanda. Zachary is perfectly bilingual and/or multilingual speaking English, French and Swahili and several African languages including Kalenjin, Luo and a little Kinyarwanda. Zac started on 1st October 2011 and will be working partly, leading the Albertine Rift Regional Information System (ARBMIS) and particularly working with different partners and stakeholders, in the development of the Albertine Rift Regonal Biodiversity Portal, a new ARCOS initiative under funding by the JRS Biodiversity Foundation.

Il est souvent difficile de savoir ce qui a été accompli, a moins de prendre un petit moment pour examiner le passé.  L’année 2010 était pareille pour ARCOS, l’année de célébration des 15 ans d’ARCOS qui a aussi était l’accasion de voir derriere. Lisez plus dans le Rapport Annuel 2010 d’ARCOS .

A Regional NGO Meeting involving over 20 NGOs members of ARCOS NGO Network met in Musanze, Rwanda, from 4-7 October 2011, for a Regional Netwworking and Leadership Development Meeting organised by ARCOS, with funding support from the MacArthur Foundation.

The meeting provided training and strategic directions to the Heads of NGOs in organization development, fundraising, business planning as well as policy and advocacy targeting emerging issues in the region such as oil and gas, ecosystem services, EIAs and climate change.

The participating NGOs conducted a review of the previous Regional NGO Strategy and suggested new priorities for the next coming years. The  NGOs identified regional initiatives for Joint NGOs advocacy work in the region and mechanisms to sustain the NGO Network

A Meeting Declaration was endorsed, click here for Musanze Declaration

Twenty years on from the Rio 1992 meeting (the first “Earth Summit”), participants coming from all walks of life met in Lucerne on 11 and 12 October 2011 to make a compelling case for mountains in international development discussions.

“At an international level, Rio+20 will provide a great momentum for the world to share common aspirational goals and visions”, explained Mr Lalonde. “Since mountains are transboundary and interdisciplinary, the key entry in Rio+20 could be about cooperation in mountain regions at all scales”, he said.

As shown in a number of regional reports ranging from the Andes to the Hindu-Kush-Himalaya, presented at the Conference, mountains could fuel the debate in all the relevant sectors of Rio+20: water, energy, food security, planet monitoring, social issues (with employment, education and culture), risk preparedness.

Participants in the Lucerne World Mountain Conference have produced a Call for Action to bring a conjunct strong message to Rio+20 in June 2012. Strong in number, diversity and complexity; still vulnerable owing to high poverty rates, mountains must stand tall on the development agenda. A source of fresh water for half of the earth’s population, mountains open the way for concrete ways of reducing poverty, overcoming food insecurity and enhancing international (often transboundary) cooperation with benefits for all – mountain communities above and downstream cities below.

The Albertine Rift and the mountains of East Africa are one of the critical ecosystems for biodiversity, national economies and people livelihoods. ARCOS is member of the Mountain Partnership,

The Mountain Partnership is an international, voluntary alliance of partners dedicated to improving the lives of mountain people and protecting their environment around the world. An official UN partnership, it was launched at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002. The Mountain Partnership has over 170 members, comprising governments, civil society, intergovernmental organizations and the private sector. It is supported by a Secretariat, whose structure consists of a Central Hub, hosted at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations – FAO – and working at the global level as well as ensuring overall coordination; and of three Decentralized Hubs; hosted at the University of Central Asia – UCA – in Kyrgyzstan (Central Asia Hub), the Consortium for the Sustainable Development of the Andean Ecoregion – CONDESAN – in Peru (Latin America Hub), the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development – ICIMOD – in Nepal (Asia Pacific Hub); and the Environmental Reference Centre – ERC – of the United Nations Environment Programme in Vienna, responsible.

Read the Call for Action here.

 The Governing Board of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) has approved the appointment of Donald Hobern as its new Executive Secretary.

Currently the director of the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), Hobern will take up the post at the end of January 2012. He will arrive at the Copenhagen-based Secretariat as GBIF starts to implement its new strategic plan for 2012-16, aimed at advancing the data content, informatics and engagement of its worldwide network. Donald Hobern previously worked in the GBIF Secretariat between 2002-7, most recently as Deputy Director for Informatics.

In recommending the appointment, the GBIF Executive Committee considered that Hobern combined the experience and knowledge to lead the technical part of GBIF’s biodiversity informatics mission, with the diplomatic skills required to reach out and engage partners and Participants in a highly complex environment.

Announcing the appointment, the GBIF Chair Joanne Daly said, “I am delighted that Donald has decided to come back to GBIF at this critical and exciting time.  “He pulled off a remarkable achievement in building the Atlas of Living Australia in a very short time, showing leadership in bringing together disparate parties to construct an amazing portal for Australian biodiversity data. That achievement was only possible because it was built on the backbone provided by GBIF, towhich Donald himself had contributed so much. “Donald is the right person for GBIF at the right time, and this appointment confirms that it has a great future.”

Approval of the appointment was given at the start of the 18^th meeting of the Governing Board (GB18), taking place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 4 and 6October. Donald Hobern is attending the event to give a presentation on theAtlas of Living Australia at the annual GBIF Science Symposium, whose themethis year is Celebrating Ten Years of GBIF.

Commenting on confirmation of his appointment, Donald Hobern said: “I am really excited to be returning to work with GBIF. The Global Biodiversity Information Facility has a unique and important role to play in supporting national and international activities to manage biodiversity data. “I look forward to learning more about how GBIF can meet the needs of each of its Participants.  There are so many exciting projects going on in different regions, and global collaboration can help to maximize the benefits from all this work.”

 Hobern replaces the current GBIF Executive Secretary Nicholas King, who leaves his post at the end of December after four and a half years in the job.  “GBIF is poised to really deliver on its ten years of investment to date, as we wrap up this phase. Donald is the right person totake GBIF forward for its next exciting phase,” said King.

Joanne Daly paid tribute to Nicholas King’s contribution during his time as Executive Secretary. “Nick has workedtirelessly and with great skill, ensuring that GBIF has fulfilled the mission of its current phase, to move into full operation as a global facility for the benefit of science and society.”  

 Donald Hobern has a background in software development and web architecture, and he worked 16years for IBM before joining GBIF in 2002. He has a lifelong passion for natural history, and in recent years paid particular attention to the Australian Pterophoridae (plume moths), assisting with some curation of these species in the Australian National Insect Collection. He was formerly Chair of TDWG Biodiversity Information Standards.

For further information, contact: Tim Hirsch, GBIF Senior Programme Officer for Engagement: thirsch@gbif.org

 Notes to editors: The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) was established by governments in 2001 to encourage free and open access to biodiversity data, via the Internet. Through a global network of 57 countries and 47 organizations, GBIF promotes and facilitates the mobilization, access, discovery and use of information about the occurrence of organisms over time and across the planet. ARCOS joined officially GBIF Global Network on 20th January 2010. Tanzania (TanBIF) and Uganda (UgaBIF) are the only Node countries of GBIF in the Albertine Rift.  As part of the Albertine Rift Biodiversity Monitoring and Information System (ARBMIS) ARCOS collaborates with National Data Centres in different countries of the Albertine Rift to encourage all countries of the region to join GBIF.

Relevant links: Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF): www.gbif.org