The Life of a Data Point

In a world where our quality of life is inextricably linked to the quality of Earth’s ecosystems, it is critical that we manage our ecosystems as responsibly and sustainably as possible. Water shortages, climate change and biodiversity loss are just some of the consequences of environmental mismanagement.

Access to reliable biodiversity data is essential for making smart environmental decisions, but without a central, stable platform, biodiversity data are easily lost.

“The Life of a Data Point” is a short film that spotlights the value of each and every data point and celebrates the platforms that house and serve our biodiversity data - platforms that allow our hard-earned data to be re-used, repurposed and recycled.

The Freshwater Biodiversity Information System (FBIS) is one of several new biodiversity data platforms in Africa developed with support from the JRS Biodiversity Foundation. The FBIS, created by the Freshwater Research Centre (FRC) in partnership with the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and Kartoza, provides comprehensive and reliable freshwater data for national decision-making and reporting, environmental management and conservation, as well as for furthering scientific research.

The film brings together and highlights key themes emerging from a recent Freshwater Bioinformatics in Africa Seminar series – recordings of which are available in this playlist.

We hope that the film inspires a greater appreciation for biodiversity data, encourages better data management and sharing, and thereby results on in better-managed ecosystems in the future.

Links