National support and participation may be measured by the hundreds of hours of staff time contributed toward these start-up and project development efforts and by the demonstrated willingness of agencies and organizations in-country to share biodiversity information. Six countries, for example, sent computer experts to attend a two-week workshop to learn the technologies and standards used in Species Analyst, a software system whose development was first sponsored by the North American Biodiversity Information Network (NABIN) and IABIN is now expanding across the Americas and the Caribbean. Fifteen countries in Latin America participated in the effort to harmonize metadata initiatives throughout IABIN, and a number of Central American countries are submitting metadata to an IABIN online catalog of biological datasets. IABIN Focal Points have developed a list of biodiversity information areas that are priorities for their countries and have volunteered to work on projects in those areas. As part of their commitments to comply with the CBD, countries are conducting activities that support the implementation of a regional clearinghouse like IABIN. The Biodiversity Information Network-Brazil and the Biota/FAPESP Virtual Institute of Biodiversity are two examples.

The United States and Canada provide support both to the IABIN process itself and at the individual project level. For example, the U.S., along with Brazil, provided support for the IABIN Planning Team, a small group responsible for network coordination, communication, proposal development, and other secretariat responsibilities. This support will continue until the IABIN hub can be established and assume this role.

IABIN Countries

Antigua and Barbuda	Argentina	The Bahamas
Barbados	Belize	Bolivia
Brazil	Canada	Chile
Colombia	Costa Rica	Dominica
Dominican Republic	Ecuador	El Salvador
Grenada	Guatemala	Guyana
Haiti	Honduras	Jamaica
Mexico	Nicaragua	Panama
Paraguay	Peru	Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia	Saint Vicent and The Grenadines	Suriname
Trinidad and Tobago	United States of America	Uruguay
Venezuela

Letter Of Endorsement (English) (Español)

National Focal Points