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THE INTERNATIONAL BIODIVERSITY OBSERVATION YEAR, 2001-2002

A year to focus global attention on biodiversity and the sciences that explore it is being planned for 2001-2002 (see Norris, S. 2000. A year for biodiversity. BioScience 50:103-107). The International Biodiversity Observation Year (IBOY), an initiative of DIVERSITAS, the international program on biodiversity science, will be launched on 29 December 2000, the United Nations International Day for Biological Diversity.

Planning for IBOY began in 1997, in response to a growing awareness among the scientific community that accurate and timely information on the extent and significance of biodiversity loss was not being communicated to the public. Simultaneously recognized was the need to integrate the different dimensions of biodiversity research so that linkages between biodiversity, ecosystems, and society could be examined.

An international steering committee, chaired by Diana Wall, is directing IBOY towards its two primary goals:

• Promoting and integrating biodiversity science, advancing a holistic understanding of biodiversity
• Educating the public about biodiversity, explaining the implications of biodiversity research and the opportunities for further discovery

At the core of IBOY is a diverse portfolio of projects, each independently directed and funded. To date, 37 international projects, across 41 countries, are contributing to IBOY. The projects fall into three categories:

• Scientific voyages of discovery - to describe the world's species, their genetic properties, and interrelationships
• Informatics - to organize, link, and deliver biological information, for use by all sectors of society
• Education and outreach - to convey accurate and timely information on biodiversity and its ecological and economic importance

Some projects have a particular monitoring and conservation focus. For example, LITUS, led by Magda Vincx and Jan Marcin Weslawski, is surveying biodiversity of sandy beaches globally to determine the impacts of tourism and develop policy recommendations. In the western Pacific and Asia, a research network is being established across forest, freshwater, and coastal marine ecosystems to examine relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and to monitor human impacts and long-term change. Other IBOY projects are using state-of-the-art information technologies to better compile and deliver biological information for conservation. For example, AmphibiaWeb, an interactive, web-based communication and database system, will yield information on the national, regional, and local status and trends of amphibian species. The goal of this project is to be able to make a definitive statement of the status and trends of every known amphibian species on Earth. Another database is creating a "DNA bank for endangered species" by compiling information on the location of all DNA samples, frozen cells, or tissues of endangered species to aid conservation efforts.

Educating the public about the importance of biodiversity is a key objective of IBOY. One project that will have a large impact in this area is an IMAX film on biodiversity and conservation, Life in the Balance, sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History and directed by Bayley Silleck.

IBOY is accepting proposals for projects until mid-2000 and is particularly keen to include more biotic surveys, projects with public participation, and museums and botanic gardens.

IBOY will bring add-on value to the participating projects through synthesis activities including meetings, web pages, publications, festivals, and films that will bring the projects together to:

• Showcase the multiple approaches required to understand the natural world
• Initiate new scientific coalitions to describe and manage the complex biodiversity relationships
• Bridge communication gaps between scientists, informatics specialists, and the media

For more information see http://www.nrel.colostate.edu/IBOY or contact Gina Adams, Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1499, Telephone (970) 491-1984, FAX (970) 491-3945, iboy@nrel.colostate.edu.

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