About us
The Republic of Croatia joined the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) in 2022. GBIF is an international network and data infrastructure funded by the world's governments and aimed at providing anyone, anywhere, open access to data about all types of life on Earth. The GBIF network currently comprises more than 100 members. Institute for Environment and Nature of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Green Transition serves as the GBIF node for Croatia, responsible for coordinating and promoting the mobilization and publication of biodiversity data, as well as implementing activities and projects within the GBIF program, following the strategic guidelines of the GBIF network.
Effective ways of connecting all data that help understand the changing state of the world and the essential role that biodiversity plays are prerequisites for addressing major challenges we face in the future, such as land use, nature conservation, climate change, food security, and health. Local information systems, such as the Croatian Bioportal, are of immense importance because they allow data consolidation and presentation in one place. However, it is undeniable that the global public is often unaware of the existence of local information systems or finds them less interesting, primarily due to the geographically limited dataset.
Scientific assessments of biodiversity at the European and global levels, including assessments of hotspots, species distribution patterns, and more, are based on data included in significant global information systems like GBIF, making them essential tools for assessing the impact on nature, planning and implementing conservation measures, and shaping future global policies for its protection.
The global collaboration of members is based on the need and awareness of more effective data linkage to understand the changing environmental conditions. Given the extensive network of collaborators and the amount of available biodiversity data, an increasing number of international organizations base their reports and analyses on biodiversity status using GBIF data. An example of this collaboration is the partnership between GBIF and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), which mobilizes and provides access to data necessary for IPBES assessments of nature and associated indicators. Additionally, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) relies on GBIF data for assessing species vulnerability in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Over the past two decades, especially since joining the European Union in 2013, Croatia has made significant progress in providing public access to biodiversity data. Joining GBIF builds upon these efforts and will connect our national scientific research with global and regional biodiversity protection policies, providing crucial scientific evidence.
Furthermore, by becoming part of the GBIF network and publishing species observation datasets from Croatia, GBIF Croatia becomes recognizable on the global biodiversity map, while simultaneously serving as a focal point for biodiversity data publication in the entire region