The African Biodiversity Challenge -...

African Biodiversity Challenge

The African Biodiversity Challenge Unlocking data for sustainable development

Matthew Child1, Fatima Parker-Allie1, Jeffrey Manuel1 1South African National Biodiversity Institute


Where do we want to go?

Identify priority group

Data capture

Data publishing

Data use (spatial planning)

Knowledge generation (CBA maps)

Policy making

Digitize

Conservation action

Intervention Monitoring

(Provides adaptive link)

Mobilisation (FBIP / BIMFs)

Mainstreaming (BPF, NBA, CBAs, KBAs, NEMBA, LUP)


And sustainability….

∞ ∞

The entry points for creating effective networks


Costello et al. 2013

Supply: relevance

Are researchers the main beneficiaries? Signal to noise problem.

Living Planet Index 2016


0

2000000

4000000

6000000

8000000

10000000

12000000

14000000

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Cu

mu

lati

ve r

eco

rd t

ally

Africa publishing African data

Other regions publishing African data

Supply: volume

Africa: 3.7%

49% published by African institutions

South Africa: 97% of African data

Rest of Africa: 0.05% of African data


Supply: consistency

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Nu

mb

er o

f re

cord

s p

ub

lish

ed /

yea

r

Benin

Burkina Faso

Cameroon

Congo, the Democratic Republic of the

Ghana

Madagascar

Mauritania

Morocco

Tanzania, United Republic of

Togo

Discontinuous publishing = no momentum. Pattern may indicate disconnected networks.

Publishing spurts may correlate with: • Funding surges. • Incidental projects (e.g.

BioGaps). • When we get round to it…


0

1000000

2000000

3000000

4000000

5000000

6000000

7000000

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Nu

mb

er o

f re

cord

s p

ub

lish

ed

/ y

ear

Supply: consistency (through culture)

Key indicator: consistent annual publishing Need consistent publishing to maintain supply pressure and increase probability of incorporation by end users.

Stream of new field data feeding into BIF


Demand: connecting prey (data) to predator (end user)

• But how many of these were policy-makers? • In ABC, only 20% of applicants identified a

relevant policy vehicle for their target datasets.

• Key indicator: we need to see increased citations of mobilised data in NBSAPs and cross-sectoral policies to measure increasing demand pull.

Photo credit: Merlin Tuttle

In Africa: • 2016: > 26 billion records were downloaded. • 2013-2016: no. users increased from 112-1,762.


How will the African Biodiversity Challenge develop effective networks?

$30,000 (country 1)

$20,000 (country 2)

$10,000 (country 3)

(volume and quality, info products)

(end user involvement and incorporation)

(MoUs between data holders / end users)

Supply

Demand

Sustainability Po

ints

aw

ard

ed

Project Teams

COMPETE!

“Data exist, but information is scarce.” Dr. Admassu Tsegaye and Dr. Abebe Getahun, University of Addis Ababa

The evolution of biodiversity informatics: from silo to

self-organisation to self-sustaining

Linking spin-off

projects to community of funders


From silo to self-organisation

Selected countries that could: • Built a consortium of

partners across the value chain.

• Demonstrated policy-relevance of data.


From self-organisation to self-sustaining Goal: to create a community of funders to support the community of practice.

…the aim of increasing the amount of biodiversity information available…

…. to ensure biodiversity is taken into account in decision making across government sectors by improving development decision makers’ access to and use of biodiversity information….

To increase the capacity of the institutions and people who collect, manage, and disseminate biodiversity data and information and to connect this knowledge to …. policymakers, conservationists, investors, and the public ….

Fun

din

g pro

gramm

es N

etwo

rk

Complementary aims but no current strategic cooperation.

Data mobilisation (%) Information product development (%) Capacity building (%) Mainstreaming (%)

BID (N= 20) 90 30 65 25

JRS (N=12) 50 50 67 42

UNEP-WCMC (N=3) 100 100 100 100

Working in silos risks:

1. Reinventing wheel. 2. Encouraging unproductive competition. 3. Thus, impact of the funding might

dissipate as the projects are widely distributed in time and space.


Goal: Where funding programmes overlap in a country, we should interlink to allow a logical progression of skills and outputs across the value chain.

Sustainability: scaffold approach

Years

Rec

ord

s m

ob

ilise

d /

yea

r

0 10

Digitise insect museum collections Data management and infrastructure (IPT) skills BIF development (begin governmental engagement)

Odonata field surveys Information product / network building skills Indicators, spatial layers, RL assessments

Political economy analysis – entry points Target specific policies Stakeholder engagement and advocacy skills Contract government agencies

GEF Safe space: • Capacity continuity,

complementarity and critical mass.

• Stable environment for vision and network self-organisation.

• Resource and time efficiency. • Complete datasets mobilised

= increased value proposition for government.


Sustainability: sealing the loop

Years

Rec

ord

s m

ob

ilise

d /

yea

r

0 10

GEF

Monitoring data

Baseline data

Supply of baseline data and receiver of monitoring data.

Reporting

Incorporate the impact data into national reporting and policies, creating a virtuous cycle.

Conservation intervention


ABC Goal: To support and sustain biodiversity informatics networks by matching a network of funders to a community of practice so that funders complement each other.

Sustainability: scaffold approach

Years

Rec

ord

s m

ob

ilise

d /

yea

r

0 10

Training 1: data management Product 1: freshwater macroinvertebrate mobilisation

Training 2: Spatial planning Product 2: FSR

Training 3: Advocacy / engagement Product 3: Revised wetland policy

JRS / GEF ? Funder matching

MBP / IUCN (complementary skills / products)

REMA

UR


Sailing into the sunset

• ABC is operationalizing the GBIF Africa and SANBI regional engagement scope of work.

• Novel funding methodology to stimulate self-organisation and long-term internalisation of workflows.

• Competition incentive to ensure policy-relevance of data – quality over quantity.

• Cooperation with other funding bodies and

projects to ensure capacity development complementarity and logical flow of information across phases.


Thank you for listening!

In this “post-truth” world of political turmoil, it is time for Africa to rise and show the world that is possible to be both prosperous and diverse.

Matthew Child Project Coordinator: Biodiversity Informatics Biodiversity Information and Planning Division [email protected] | +27 (0) 72 199 2454

mailto:[email protected]


How do we flip the funding model?

Gov

Other funders

GBIF

Government

Other funders

GBIF

The primary source of funding for node activities

were identified as:

GBIF and GBIF related programs (47%),

Host institutions (21%)

Governments (16%),

JRS foundation (11%) and

Mac-Arthur foundation (5%).

Most projects are funded up-front. No incentive to complete project sufficiently and momentum lost after project. ABC: prize money awarded at end of project, thus agencies must support project activities. Hope to stimulate workflow patterns as part of core mission.


Filtering for success and self-organisation

15 countries, 294 invitations, 218 institutions

13 countries, 44 applicants, 40 institutions

10 countries, 26 applicants, 9 consortia

3 countries (Rwanda, Malawi, Ghana) 3 consortia 9 institutions

Country selection index

Invitation for expressions of interest

15% success rate 10 countries, 26 applicants, 27 institutions

Asked to merge into full proposal

Final review


Sustainability: sealing the loop

Years

Rec

ord

s m

ob

ilise

d /

yea

r

0 10

GEF Impact Investors

Monitoring data

Top down: foreign investment, job creation.

Baseline data

$$$

Bottom up: supply of baseline data and monitoring data.

Reporting

Foreign investment, job creation and SDGs.

Incorporate the impact data into national reporting and policies, creating a virtuous cycle.


Connecting the dots

Joining forces with the research funding community to create conservation evidence.

WFN, NRF, University grants etc.

Research / conservation funding community

• Conservation evidence creates policy-relevant data and can be fed back into BIF.

• Con ev research projects can identify interventions that might be converted in impact investment initiatives.

• Linking research funding community and biodiversity informatics funding community might help to create a better data management culture.

• This funding community also includes those that support conservation projects through NGOs, which may harbour valuable data.


Roping in the research funding community

Years

Rec

ord

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yea

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0 10

GEF Impact Investors

$$$

Reporting R

esea

rch

gr

ants

Mobilising data from conservation research projects: 1. Feeds back into BIF for increased reporting and

analytical power, which further strengthens business case.

2. Identifies projects and monitoring frameworks for impact investment.

Monitoring data


What is an effective and self-sustaining biodiversity informatics network?

Data holders Analysts End users

Stakeholders providing different services

Country-specific vision

Identify priority group

Data capture

Data publishing

Data use Knowledge generation

Policy making

Digitize

Integrating services as part of core mission

∞ ∞ ∞ Critical mass of capacity

Financial security as part of core mission

Institutional memory

GBIF Africa ACM


Connecting supply to demand “Data exist, but information is scarce.” Dr. Admassu Tsegaye and Dr. Abebe Getahun, University of Addis Ababa

Momentum (selection process

designed to work with countries with ‘traction’)

Participatory / transparent

(priority setting exercises eg MCDA, road maps

jointly developed)

Productivity & Efficiency

(competition format to incentivise maximum mobilisation on small

budget, risks outsourced)

Engagement and vision building

(balanced project team, stakeholders convened at

BIMF early, end users actively engaged)

Tailor-made training and incentives

(virtual helpdesk, GBIF training, synergy with other projects,

data papers, prestige)

High-quality outputs

showcased at prize-giving ceremony

Attracts further funding

The African Biodiversity Challenge -...

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