The Minister of Environment and Water Manol Genov signed a memorandum of understanding with which Bulgaria joins the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). The GBIF is an international network and data infrastructure funded by governments around the world, which provides international open access to a modern and complete database of all living organisms on the planet.

The GBIF network is coordinated by a Secretariat in Copenhagen and consists of countries and organizations working through points of communication (participant nodes). The mechanism provides institutions - data holders on a global scale, with common standards, best practices, and open access tools, allowing them to share information about where and how species/specimens have been registered/recorded. Currently, the network consists of a total of 107 countries and institutions, most of which are in Europe. The goal of the participants is for the GBIF to make biodiversity data generally accessible, while recognizing the contribution of those who collect and publish them.

By joining the GBIF Bulgaria's data will be streamlined using the network's infrastructure, so our country does not need to build and maintain its own separate infrastructure, which also saves significant financial resources. As a full member with voting rights, Bulgaria will ensure that our biodiversity data is available and accessible through the platform, as well as contribute to global knowledge about biodiversity, respectively to solutions that will promote its conservation and sustainable use.

As a member of the GBIF, Bulgaria will be able to apply for funding for leading activities in Bulgarian institutions and neighboring Balkan countries. This will enable our country to expand its leadership role in the Balkans in research and accumulation of biodiversity data. Better data management by Bulgaria will also contribute to better reporting and implementation of obligations to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), as well as to the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

By a decree of the Council of Ministers, the Minister of Environment and Water has been designated as the national competent authority for issues related to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility in Bulgaria. The activities under the memorandum will be administered by the Executive Environment Agency at the Ministry of Environment and Water.

The text of the memorandum in Bulgarian and English can be found at: https://www.moew.government.bg/bg/priroda/zakonodatelstvo/mejdunarodno-zakonodatelstvo/mejdunarodni-sporazumeniya/

Additional information about the Global Biodiversity Information Facility is available on the organization’s website: https://www.gbif.org/