JICA helps set up national biodiversity database system

The database system was jointly developed by the Biodiversity Conservation Agency (BCA), the Vietnam Environment Administration (VEA) and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), through the project named Development of the National Biodiversity Database System cooperated by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) since November 2011.

NBDS is designed correspondingly to international standards to store nation-wide biodiversity data including lists of species of fauna and flora in taxonomy.

The development of NBDS helps BCA implementing effective management on biodiversity by gathering necessary data for assessing, monitoring and reporting the status of biodiversity. NBDS is also expected to provide a base of biodiversity information for decision makers, government officers, researchers and the public as well.

During more than three years of implementation, the technical cooperation project has developed numbers of results, such as a Master Scheme of NBDS, a roadmap to the future generations of NBDS, prioritized list of required activities and budget, official guideline for developing biodiversity monitoring indications in Vietnam both at national and local level and a draft circular for collaboration mechanism on data sharing with other agencies.

While remarkable achievements have been seen as above, there still exist challenges and remaining works, according to JICA Vietnam.

“In order to ensure further NBDS utilisation and development, it is essential that the MONRE will soon approve the Master Scheme of NBDS to determine necessary activities and budget to operate and upgrade the database’s function. MONRE says that it will be approved in a couple of months. Equal importance is the promulgation, expectedly in March, of the draft circular on collaboration mechanism among data holders, which enables sharing, exchanging and exploiting biodiversity data,” JICA said in its statement.

As a country with one of the world richest biodiversity, Vietnam has become a member country of the Convention on Biological Diversity. In response to the requirement, the Vietnamese government enacted the Biodiversity Law in 2008, which is followed by the National Biodiversity Strategy to 2020, vision to 2030, approved in 2013 and the Master Plan on Biodiversity Conservation, approved in 2014.