ALL creatures great and small, from the mightiest whale to the humblest
bacterium, will soon have an entry in the first complete Who’s who of the
natural world. When finished, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, or
GBIF, will be available free on the Internet to anyone investigating the biology
and ecology of the planet.
The initiative to set up the GBIF came from the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development in Paris. The deal was that once at least 10
nations had agreed to stump up $2 million between them, the facility
would be a going concern.
This week in…
