The GBIF Secretariat is pleased to announce an extension of the Biodiversity Information for Development (BID) programme until 2023, and to give notice of new calls for proposals currently planned for June and September 2020.
The extension of the programme led by GBIF, with co-funding from the European Union, will enable institutions in three global regions to build on the impact of BID’s first phase, in which 63 BID-funded projects mobilized 535 biodiversity datasets containing more than 1.3 million records relevant to the regions’ priority policy needs.
Rigorous curricula have also helped improve biodiversity data skills and establish regional communities of practice, providing instruction to 120 project team members whose follow-on workshops have replicated the training for another 1,500 students and professionals across sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific.
In the next phase of the programme, GBIF will invite proposals in four grant categories, all with project implementation periods of two years:
- Regional biodiversity data mobilization grants that establish or strengthen international collaborations to increase biodiversity data mobilization addressing regional sustainable development needs (maximum funding: 60,000 euros for projects involving two countries; €120,000 for projects involving three or more countries)
- National biodiversity data mobilization grants that establish or strengthen national biodiversity information facilities and increase biodiversity data mobilization to respond to national priorities (maximum funding: €40,000)
- Institution-level biodiversity data mobilization grants that mobilize data relevant for sustainable development (maximum funding: €20,000)
- Data-use grants that build on existing relationships between biodiversity data-holding institutions and decision makers and provide data solutions that respond to a specific policy need (maximum funding: €60,000)
GBIF will provide more details about the grants, selection process and eligibility rules at the time of the calls for proposals. To keep up to date with the programme, including upcoming information webinars and other information resources, sign up to the BID mailing lists.
The current timetable for launching the upcoming BID calls is as follows:
- Early June 2020: Call for submission of concept notes for sub-Saharan Africa (see eligible countries).
- Early September 2020: Simultaneous calls for submission of concept notes for the wider Caribbean (see eligible countries) and the Pacific (see eligible countries).
For the Caribbean, the scope of the extended BID programme will be wider than in the first phase, incorporating all countries in Mesoamerica, South American countries with a Caribbean coastline, and all Caribbean island states. Organizations based in overseas territories in all three regions will be eligible to participate as partners in regional grant projects but not as leaders of project applications.
The extension of the BID programme beyond its original period of 2015-2019 is enabled by additional funding of €1.6 million from the European Union through the Directorate-General for International Partnerships, with GBIF making a further €410,000 in-kind contribution. This addition increases the total EU investment in BID to €5.5 million over the period 2015-2023, with GBIF providing €1.41 million as an in-kind contribution.
Over and above its in-kind contributions, the training programme will again rely on the support of GBIF's international network of mentors and trainers who have helped build and expand communities of practice within each of BID's three target regions. This community includes more than 60 mentors in BID-funded countries, who can provide key points of contact for less experienced project teams and help bring them into within the wider biodiversity informatics community.
This programme is funded by the European Union.