With this initiative, Chile ranks 6th among Latin American countries with the most data published in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility network.
By Aqua.cl
As part of the public–private partnership between the Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture (Subpesca), Costa Humboldt, and the Ministry of the Environment (MMA), the “Biogeographic Database of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Research Fund (1999–2019), Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture” was published on June 2, 2023.
This initiative, which contributes to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) network, received technical support from Costa Humboldt. Its team made available the fisheries and biodiversity data generated by the Fisheries and Aquaculture Research Fund.
The database —which includes pelagic, demersal, crustacean, highly migratory, and chondrichthyan resources— standardizes information from 284 studies commissioned by Subpesca between 1999 and 2019, financed by FIPA, and compiles data gathered between 1993 and 2019. This represents more than 62 billion Chilean pesos in state investment in research.
The development and creation of this publication aim to contribute to the volume, richness, and quality of data published by GBIF Chile, providing the scientific community and the public with access to high-quality information on the distribution of hydrobiological species along the country’s coasts. It promotes community participation and improves biodiversity management.
The data come from nearly 2 million sampling events, mainly along the eastern South Pacific coast, and report close to 3 million biological records corresponding to 446 marine species. They represent 37% of Chile’s biodiversity data published in GBIF.
With this publication, Chile rises from 8th to 6th place in the ranking of Latin American countries with the greatest amount of biodiversity data published in GBIF, reaching a total of 8,202,610 records.
The Undersecretary of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Julio Salas, highlighted the importance of this initiative:“The publication of these data is a substantial step forward in transparency. We are making relevant information on fisheries and biodiversity available to everyone, which will support a wide range of studies that will positively impact our sector.” He also noted that it is “evidence of the Government’s interest in collaborating with science.”
The Minister of the Environment, Maisa Rojas, stated: “We celebrate and recognize the work of Subpesca, its technical teams, and Costa Humboldt. Thanks to this coordinated effort, access to knowledge on biodiversity and our fisheries resources in this important maritime territory is significantly improved. This will allow our conservation and sustainable development actions to be evidence-based. We hope other public agencies will also join the open-access approach to biodiversity data.”
Costa Humboldt’s co-founder and research director, Javier Naretto, explained: “Nearly 300 previous projects were used as the foundation for this publication. It took 18 months of corrections and adjustments to translate everything into an ecological metadata language.”
He added: “We believe that initiatives like this, within this collaborative agreement, are essential to bring these data to the forefront, recognizing the intrinsic value of natural environments and their components, and to work toward safeguarding ecosystems and the environmental services provided by their habitats, species, and associated cultural richness.”
Through this effort, Chile continues to advance in fulfilling its commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), particularly Target 21 of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework: “to ensure that the best available data, information, and knowledge are accessible to decision-makers, professionals, and the public to support effective and equitable governance and integrated, participatory biodiversity management.” It also contributes to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and fulfills one of the fundamental roles of the MMA: facilitating the publication and access to biodiversity data generated in the country.
