UNILAG VC, Experts Emphasise Importance of Digitised Biodiversity Data

UNILAG VC, Experts Emphasise Importance of Digitised Biodiversity Data

…Highlight gains, call for improved collaboration.

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof Oluwatoyin Ogundipe and other academicians have called for increased digitisation of biodiversity data in Africa.

The dons stressed that access to and applicability of biodiversity data remained a key factor in the promotion and conservation of biodiversity, calling for more collaboration, funding and capacity building.

Ogundipe who spoke while flagging off the opening ceremony of a 3-Day Capacity Building Workshop of the “GBIF-BID Project Expanding the Visibility of the Lagos Herbarium through Digitization and Mobilization of Plant Specimen Data”, stressed the importance of biodiversity data as well as the contributions of UNILAG as a research powerhouse and the sponsors.

At the workshop which focused on Applications of Digitized Biodiversity data for Enhanced Policy Making in Conservation, the VC disclosed that in the last 5 years, UNILAG has won several grants from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), a feat which, according to him, has aided research efforts in collection, publication and digitization of both animals and plants species.

He identified the UNILAG Herbarium as one of the very few in Nigeria with up-to-date data on its collections, a feat he attributed to the astuteness of Researchers and Eggheads in the Department of Botany.

The foremost academic also expressed confidence that the workshop will promote collaboration among researchers, students, conservationists and policy makers as they gather more capacities in modeling, digitization and assessing the conservation status of biodiversity.

Also speaking at the event which took place between 28th and 30th of June, 2022, at the University’s Research management office Boardroom, Principal Investigator of the Project, Dr Mrs Temitope Onuminya – an Associate Professor of Plant Systematics and Conservation at UNILAG, said the initiative was funded by the European Union through the Biodiversity Informatics for Development (BID) program of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).

Onuminya warned that poor access to biodiversity data will mar research efforts thereby leading to weak conservation policies due to limited knowledge on distribution of species across space and time.

This however could be addressed through the digitization of biodiversity data, she said.

Speaking on behalf of GBIF, Professor Omokafe Ugbogu – Professor of Plant Taxonomist/Medicinal Plants and Nigerian GBIF Node, commended the PI, VC, management and researchers for the efforts in biodiversity data preservation.

In a virtual speech, she noted that the achievements of UNILAG in the digitization of biodiversity data will go a long way to improve access to biodiversity data, increase the relevance of GBIF, encourage research efforts as well as promote collaboration among researchers.

Other academicians at the event included the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academics and Research; Professor Bola Oboh, Head of Department of Botany – Dr. Omobolanle Ade-Ademilua, Deputy Director, Research Management Office – Dr. Abidemi Akindele who represented the Director – Prof. Timothy Nubi and the Director, School of Foundation Studies – Prof. Solomon Akinboye.

Participating institutions include: University of Lagos (UNILAG), Lagos state University (LASU), Lagos State Ministry of Environment & Water Resources, Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency (LASPARK), Dreamscape Resources, LBJA Conservation, Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA).

Others were Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO), Local Government Service Commission, Forestry Research Institute Nigeria (FRIN), University of Ilorin,  University of Sierra Leone and University of Zimbabwe.

Facilitators included Dr. Temitope Onuminya (PI), Dr. Aramide Igbari, Prof. Kehinde Kemabonta from the University of Lagos and Mrs. Kuzai Mafuwe (GBIF Project Monitor) from the University of Zimbabwe.