Advanced notice of a joint call for proposals under FP5
The European Commission has published advanced notice of a joint call for proposals to establish a European network of biodiversity information (ENBI) through the specific programmes for research, technological development and demonstration on 'Quality of life and management of living resources' and 'Energy, environment and sustainable development', part A: environment and sustainable development. The targeted call is planned for publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities in May or June 2001. 'Although further details will be provided at the time of the call, the present advanced notice provides its basic rationale and purpose,' says the Commission. 'The ENBI is intended to add value to the contribution of the national nodes and other European contributions to the 'global biodiversity information facility' (GBIF), an international initiative to share information on biodiversity data. In line with objectives of the European research area, the Commission action aims to develop a European approach building upon Member States' initiatives in the context of international research activities. The European Commission intends to provide financial support to only one project that best responds to the requirements described in the future call. The ENBI is intended to offer European researchers access to a Europe-wide pool of technical and human resources, expertise and know-how on biodiversity and provide a forum for GBIF-related discussion and decision-making in scientific issues that are better handled at a European scale than at a national one. ENBI will provide views of biodiversity and access to biodiversity data and information at the European bio-geographical scale, including the marine environment, with approaches consistent with the nature of the information. ENBI will facilitate and promote the repatriation of biodiversity data, particularly when the data originates from developing countries. ENBI will depend on information provided by national nodes, the European Environment Agency and its topic centres and other relevant data sources. GBIF is intended to provide a one-stop shop for all data on biodiversity, which will primarily be provided from the national nodes, based on the taxonomic expertise and collection-based data in the contributing countries. The European Community clearing house mechanism will provide meta-data based on national expertise and resources, data not included in the GBIF scope and other information on national policies and initiatives. For further information, please see the official text of this notice in the Official Journal of the European Communities at the reference below.