First OAS Meeting of IABIN Experts
October 6-7, 1997, Washington, DC

Final meeting report

Experts from seven Nations participated in the meeting. Participants noted the experience of the Inter-American dialogue on water resources as a possible model for ensuring that there was continuity in the process of establishing IABIN. The importance of securing a strong commitment from governments including support for long-term financing of the network was also stressed. The participants noted the importance of active and broad government involvement in IABIN as a means of ensuring continued support of the OAS. They also noted the importance of involvement of civil society, since many repositories of biological data are outside of governments. Dr. Dias, the Brazilian Minister of Environment, stressed the commitment of his government to IABIN as well as the need for any such network to be seen as integral and complementary to the Clearing House Mechanism of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD/CHM). In addition, Dr. Dias noted the appeal of a regional effort such as IABIN to help ensure that national efforts at collecting and storing biological data are compatible.