Biological Collections Component

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Biological collections constitute one of the most important sources of information about the composition, distribution, and content of biodiversity. This information is essential for both the development of scientific research and environmental modeling, as well as for effective decision making by policy-makers in questions of land-use planning, conservation strategy development, and sustainable natural resource use. The demand is rising for information about Amazonian biodiversity; and an increase in biological inventory activities in the region, through PPBio and other programs, demand that regional institutions have adequately structured their biological collections so that material is properly prepared, stored, conserved, and identified. These institutions must also have the capacity to organize, manage, integrate, and disseminate information about the biodiversity for multiple users. Overall, biological collection must be prepared to be repositories and disseminators of trusted, quality information about Amazonian biodiversity.

Various national and international institutions maintain collections with examples of the flora and fauna of Amazonia. In the region, the two Executor Groups of PPBio – the National Institute for Amazonian Research, in Manaus, and the Emílio Goeldi Museum of Para, in Belém – hold the largest and most significant botanical and zoological collections, in terms of scope and representation; other regional institutions also maintain regionally or locally important collections. Institutions from other states and countries also hold a large volume of specimens and information about Amazonian biota.

To efficiently attend to the demand for information, PPBio promotes the strengthening of biological collections, in order to: (1) improve the organization and dissemination of information about the composition and importance of Amazonian biodiversity, (2) advance studies of the biota of the region by improving access to existing data, and (3) undertake better planning and organization of priorities in biodiversity inventories and research.