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Botany

24/10/12 | Oslo

Biodiversity data freely available online

“Why is the museum closed?”, is often asked outside the Botanical Museum in Oslo. The museum contains a large amount of data on biological diversity in the form of herbaria. The house is generally closed to the public, but the information it contains is freely available online. Many organizations are working to make the information from museum collections and databases available. "Data obtained with public funds should be of benefit to the public" is an important principle for the Species Online project, a new web portal launched in 2013.

23/10/12 | Hyderabad, India

Biodiversity Summit

At the UN Biodiversity Summit in India a decision was taken to double the budget for plant and animal conservation by 2015. This is a start, but it is not sufficient to stem all biodiversity loss by 2020. India is setting an example by investing $50 million in its own biodiversity conservation and the biodiversity of other developing countries. A decision was also taken to ensure better protection of the oceans. In future, all activities that take place in marine areas of importance for biodiversity will be reported to the UN.