The CENBAM (Integrated Studies of the Amazon Biodiversity Center) is one of the new National Institutes of Science and Technology approved by the CNPq in 2008. It aims to integrate biological research in the Amazon into efficient chains of scientific / technological production. Currently, the Amazonian biodiversity is not being maintained or operated efficiently for lack of scientific / technological knowledge. The few surveys are concentrated in the vicinity of the largest population centers, Belém and Manaus. Regional centers face a vicious circle, where the lack of resources discourages securing qualified human resources inside, and the lack of qualified human resources results in little scientific production, preventing the raising of funds, which, in turn, hampers the training of local human resources.
CENBAM will operate in regional centers in Amazonas, Roraima, Amapá, Rondônia, Acre and Mato Grosso, promoting the training of local human resources at various levels, from field assistants and parataxonomists to primary and secondary students, lab technicians and graduate students, also allowing for adequate infrastructure, such as museums, herbaria and living collections, installation and recovery equipment and laboratories, and the necessary exchange for the use of available resources. The planning and execution of these activities will be carried out in collaboration with the users of information, such as biotechnology laboratories, biological reserves managers, timber production areas and agencies responsible for environmental impact assessment and monitoring of catchment areas of major works.
Coordinator: William E. Magnusson
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia - INPA
Vice-Coordinator: Regina C. C. Luizão
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia - INPA