NaBiD - Frequently asked questions

Support

• Who pays for all this?
• I like what I see. How can I help?
• Future plans?

• Who pays for all this?
  
  NaBiD is fully supported by the Namibian government, but not directly funded by them. Funding has come from various sources over time.
  
  Government of Namibia:
  • National Botanical Research Institute
    The NBRI has been the physical home of NaBiD and its predecessors. Even though NaBiD is not exclusively concerned with plants, the NBRI provides in-kind support through office space, communication services, and project oversight.
  • Ministry of Environment and Tourism
    NaBiD's predecessor originated under the National Biodiversity Programme, hosted by the Directorate of Environmental Affairs of MET. NaBiD was originally hosted on DEA's server, and continues to be closely associated with their International Environmental Conventions Unit.
  
  Donors and contributors:
  • Strengthening the Protected Area Network Project
    In 2007 SPAN facilitated the adding of the MET-DSS database of international museum mammal records to NaBiD, as well as the start of our fledgeling niche modeling ability.
  • United Nations Environment Programme
    In 2007, some UNEP Biodiversity Enabling Funds for Namibia were used to effect small enhancements to NaBiD, e.g. adding the IUCN status of Namibian plants.
  • Succulent Karoo Ecosystem Programme
    In 2006, SKEP funded efforts to improve NaBiD's Sperrgebiet coverage, to provide baseline biodiversity data for conservation planning in the future Sperrgebiet National Park and surroundings.
  • Global Spatial Data Infrastructure
    In 2006, GSDI, through URISA and the GISCorps, provided the services of a volunteer GIS programmer, Mr. Sean Montague, to help upgrade our ability to deliver spatial information.
  • Global Biodiversity Information Facility
    In 2005, GBIF funded the provision of a definitive list of Namibian insects and arachnids. As a byproduct of this support, a full-featured editing subsystem was added to NaBiD, in order to ease handling of the large volume of data that was involved.
  • Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit
    Prior to 2004, GTZ funded the National Biodiversity Programme, specifically the Biosystematics Working Group, under which NaBiD originated.
  
  
  • Southern Cross Systems Integrators
    SCSI stepped in to provide us with free web hosting when we lost our first home, and still do so.
  
  
  • Biodata Consultancy cc
    Biodata has sponsored our domain registration and maintenance fees since day one, besides giving general support.
  
  
  
• I like what I see. How can I help?
  
  
  • If you are an expert taxonomist, consider becoming a NaBiD collaborator, please.
  • If you are the holder of Namibian biodiversity data, talk to us about possible ways in which your data may contribute to NaBiD.
  • If you are a user of Namibian biodiversity data, please plough something back into the system by alerting us to any errors or omissions you find on the site, by telling us about your information needs, by suggesting improvements and by publicising the site.
  • If you are the owner of a web site that also deals with biodiversity information, talk to us about reciprocal link exchange.
  • If you have a photograph for an organism that we do not have one for yet, or you have a better photo than the one we have, or just a different one, consider allowing us to use it.
  • If you know the common name for an organism in a Namibian language and we are not listing that name already, consider submitting it, please.
  • If you are a potential donor who might be interested in giving financial support, see whether any of our future plans correspond to your vision, or speak to us about ways we could help each other to achieve our respective goals. We do not expect handouts, instead, are willing to compete for funds on merit. Our perpetual need is to pay people to input data, but this can always be linked to specific data sources with specific outcomes and products, either for specific taxa, or for specific areas.


• Future plans?
  
  For the short term, we have realised that we need to expand our coverage of common names in Namibian languages greatly if we hope to become relevant to non-professionals. Concurrently, we therefore also need more pictures so that people can connect the name with the image. Both common names and pictures will therefore remain high on our priority list for some time to come.
  
  Here are some of our longer term visions:
  • Integration and consolidation with other biodiversity-related data sources in Namibia, to ensure the widest possible coverage and access to biodiversity information.
  • Making the Namibian Biodiversity Database a self-sustaining entity that can carry the work of biodiversity documentation forward into perpetuity.
  • Expanding our scope by the inclusion, and repatriation where necessary, of any and all relevant data sources.
  • Incorporating historical data sources, as a baseline against which to measure possible modern changes in distribution, and the possible effects of climate change.
  • Provision of geographically-targeted biodiversity information. Any landowner should be able to access information specific to their property. Any consultant doing an Environmental Impact Assessment should be able to access information specific to the proposed development.
  • Empowering communities and individuals to make meaningful contributions to decisions affecting their environment and their livelihoods.
  • Promoting the Namibian Biodiversity Database as a tool for use in Environmental Education, and in the support of Sustainable Development.
  • Establish and maintain linkages with all possible stakeholders, and maintain the highest possible information flow in both directions.