Belgian Report on the Implementation of the Programme of Work for the Global Taxonomy Initiative

Introduction to the report

Contracting Party: BELGIUM

National Focal Point:

Full name of the institution: Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
Name and title of contact officer: Dr J. Van Goethem
Mailing address: CBD and GTI Focal Points, Department of Invertebrates, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Rue Vautierstraat 29, B-1000 Brussels
Telephone: +32 2 627 43 43
Fax: +32 2 627 41 41
E-mail: jackie.vangoethem@naturalsciences.be
Contact officer for this report (if different)
Name and title of contact officer: Dr A. Franklin
Mailing address: Same as above
Telephone: +32 2 627 45 87
Fax: +32 2 627 41 41
E-mail: anne.franklin@naturalsciences.be
Submission
Signature of officer responsible for submitting national report: J. Van Goethem
Date of submission: September 2004

Please provide summary information on the process by which this report has been prepared, including information on the types of stakeholders who have been actively involved in its preparation and on material which was used as a basis for the report.

• May 2004: the CBD / GTI focal point prepares a first draft of the report
• June-August 2004: this first draft is submitted for consultation to colleagues within the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. 
• August-September 2004: a revised draft is submitted to colleagues in other taxonomic institutions and at universities.
• September 2004: The report is submitted for approval to the members of the Steering Committee 'Biodiversity Convention' operating under the authority of the Coordinating Committee for International Environmental Policy (CCIEP).

Persons who contributed to the report (by alphabetical order):

• Brendonck Luc, Catholic University of Leuven (KULeuven)
• De Koeijer Han, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS)
• De Meyer Marc, Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA)
• Degreef Jérôme, National Botanic Garden of Belgium (NBGB)
• Franklin Anne, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS)
• Goddeeris Boudewijn, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS)
• Goetghebeur Paul, Ghent University (Ugent)
• Jocqué Rudy, Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA)
• Kerckhof Francis, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences/Management Unit of the North Sea Mathematical Models (RBINS-MUMM)
• Lenglet Georges, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS)
• Louette Michel, Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA)
• Patiny Sébastien, Gembloux Agricultural Faculty (FuSaGx)
• Peeters Marc, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS)
• Rappé Guido, National Botanic Garden of Belgium (NBGB)
• Samyn Yves, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS)
• Segers Hendrik, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences/Belgian Biodiversity Platform (RBINS-BBPF)
• Sérusiaux Emmanuel, University of Liège (ULg)
• Smets Erik, Catholic University of Leuven (KULeuven)
• Snoeks Jos, Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA)
• Van Goethem Jackie, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS)
• Vanderborght Thierry, National Botanic Garden of Belgium (NBGB)
• Verbeken Mieke, Ghent University (Ugent)

Information on the main actors for taxonomy in Belgium

1. Major taxonomic facilities

The Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) has been designated as GTI focal point for Belgium. Located in Brussels, this museum and research institute houses a rich zoological (including paleontological) collection, completed by a large number of prehistoric items and a diverse geological collection, including minerals and core samples. Geographical areas of taxonomical expertise not only focus on the Belgian fauna, but also on the fauna of other regions of the world as for example Africa (great lakes, national parks of DRC), SE Asia, Papua New Guinea, South America (Galapagos Islands, Argentina), Russia (Lake Baïkal) and Antarctica. Focus ecosystems are terrestrial, freshwater and marine. An internal audit in 2004 estimates that the collections include about 30 million zoological specimens. It can be estimated that there are about 200,000 types of recent animals and 30,000 types of fossil animals. The mollusc collection includes some 9 million specimens representing more than 45,000 species and is ranked in the top five world-wide. Other important collections are the insect collection, estimated at a 14 million specimens and the vertebrate collection reaching one million specimens. The library possesses 350,000 titles, among which about 1,000 titles were published before 1900. The museum acts as a showcase for the scientific research conducted by the Institute, with thousands of specimens on display in permanent galleries.
http://www.naturalsciences.be

The Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA), in Tervuren, is a museum, research institute and knowledge centre on the biodiversity of living species in the context of their natural environments in Africa, particularly Central Africa. It holds the largest biodiversity collection of Central Africa, offering a complete cross-section of reference material from many taxa. Furthermore, the majority of the specimens originate from the relatively poorly studied megadiversity belt in the equatorial region of Africa, from West Africa and from the Comoro archipelago. Expertise is predominantly focused on terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. The zoological collections hold specimens from nearly 125,000 species: 7-8 million invertebrates of 117,000 species and 1.5 million vertebrates of 6,115 species. They hold holotypes of 26,615 insect, 543 fish, 226 bird, 104 reptile, 81 amphibian and 36 mammal species. RMCA has types of over a third of the 3,000 species of African freshwater fishes. The African spider collection is also one of the world's most important. Museum collections are presented in permanent exhibitions, with the aim of disseminating scientific knowledge among the general public.
http://www.africamuseum.be

The National Botanic Garden of Belgium (NBGB) maintains a vast collection of living plants in greenhouse and outdoor collections (nearly 25,700 accessions belonging to about 17,500 taxa and 3,150 genera) as well as collections of non-living material (Herbarium BR). The vascular plant herbarium contains about 2.5 million specimens, among which are ca. 30,000 nomenclatural types. The herbarium of non-vascular cryptogams contains collections of algae, bryophytes (about 320,000 exsiccatae, of which over 2,000 nomenclatural types), myxomycetes (23,000 exsiccatae, of which 302 nomenclatural types) and fungi (about 145,000 specimens, of which 2,500 nomenclatural types). Focus areas are domestic (about 230,000 specimens from Belgium), the New World and tropical Africa (inter alia ca. 90% of all the botanical material collected by Belgian researchers in Central Africa). Expertise is mainly centred around terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. The NBG is open to the public, who can enjoy a visit through the indoor and outdoor collections in one of the largest botanical gardens in the world. http://www.br.fgov.be/ 

2. Universities and other research institutions

Universities. Universities play an important role in the education of taxonomy, from the undergraduate to the postgraduate level. During the past decades however, taxonomic research has been in decline at universities. Most of the 15 Belgian universities and faculties continue to carry out some research and maintain collections, but expertise and collections are fragmented among taxa and among laboratories. Several universities host zoological museums (e.g. Ghent University, University of Liège, Catholic University of Leuven, Free University of Brussels ULB) or important zoological collections (e.g. Agricultural Faculty of Gembloux), while the majority of universities have herbaria and botanical gardens. One university (University of Liège) maintains an aquarium open to the public. Historically, universities assembled scientific collections as course material (e.g. introduction to systematics). Nowadays, the collections are mainly used for research and for student education (from undergraduate to postgraduate). Attention is increasingly given to the larger public, as more and more zoological museums or botanical gardens offer guided tours for interested parties. The loss of expertise and lack of funding for collections at universities may pose problems on the long term for the care and maintenance of collections, as well as for the establishment of a new generation of taxonomic experts. Examples of university involvement in taxonomic research can be found in the answers to questions 8-18.

Regional research institutes. Some taxonomy-related activities are carried out by regional research institutes, usually as part of broader research and/or monitoring programmes. These institutes include the Flemish Institute for Nature Conservation, the Research Centre for Nature, Forest and Wood of the Walloon Region, the Flanders Marine Institute, the Flemish Agricultural Research Centre and the Walloon Agricultural Research Centre. The Brussels Institute for Management of the Environment generally subcontracts its taxonomy-related research to other institutes. Examples of involvement of regional research institutes in taxonomic research can be found in the answers to questions 8-18. 

3. Other actors

Taxonomic societies, naturalist associations and independent experts. There are more than 50 societies and associations that deal with taxonomy-related subjects, or more generally with the identification, inventory and monitoring of species (birds, bats, reptiles, amphibians, butterflies, orchids, etc.). These societies and associations provide support to scientific research and public education. These associations are extremely variable in size, scope, longevity and degree of activity. Independent experts also play an important role for some taxa. Such associations and independent expertise are indispensable to the inventory of biodiversity in Belgium. More information and contact details, are consultable through the database 'Biodiversity Resources in Belgium'. http://www.br.fgov.be/biodiv/

Belgian Co-ordinated Collections of Micro-organisms (BCCM): BCCM constitutes a consortium of four complementary research-based culture collections financed by the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office. The distribution of bacteria, filamentous and yeast-like fungi, and plasmids - and in particular, test and reference strains - is an important core activity: over 50.000 well-documented and authenticated strains and over 1.500 plasmids are readily deliverable by BCCM on a world-wide basis. Some 10 unique cDNA libraries are also available. Besides this, BCCM continues to build on its expertise in the fields of isolation, cultivation, characterization, identification and cryopreservation of strains. It also shares and valorises its collective know-how through individual and group training sessions as well as bilateral contract agreements. http://www.belspo.be/bccm/

Bio-in-Bel. Bio-in-Bel is a new body set up in 2004 by the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office. It groups two former projects into one: the Belgian Biodiversity Platform (BBPF) and the Belgian node of GBIF (Be-Bif). One of its main tasks is to integrate Belgian biodiversity resources within a unified environment (data and meta-data on biodiversity). Other tasks include advising on biodiversity-related science policy and development of activities that stimulate biodiversity research. http://www.biodiversity.be/

 

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