Introduction to IOPI

[Jim Croft]

>From: david at rsbs13.anu.edu.au (David Green)
Subject: Introduction to IOPI
Date: Wed, 23 Dec 92 15:12:26 EST


       INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR PLANT INFORMATION (IOPI)

Today, despite the widespread utilization and exploitation of plant
species, growing concerns about loss of biodiversity and the urgent need
for conservation of genetic resources, there is no modern unified
conspectus of the plant species of the world, their distribution and
attributes. The problem has been addressed in part by the Species
Plantarum Project and the Global Plant Species Information System groups.
IOPI has been established to integrate and extend the work of these
groups, and to replace them.

IOPI's objective will be to prepare such a conspectus as expeditiously as
possible through the establishment of a series of integrated, dispersed,
computerised databases which will summarize the basic taxonomic
information, biological attributes and potential for utilization of all
species, in the first instance, of all the vascular plants of the world;
to document the data, and to make them accessible in a variety of ways
for the benefit of a diversity of users. This is a major undertaking but
an essential, minimal, first step will be to provide, as a fundamental
framework, a World Vascular Plant Checklist. Therafter, it will be
possible to integrate further databases concerned with other attributes,
taxonomic, biological, ecological, useful - whether to agriculture,
forestry, horticulture, medicine, biotechnology or in other ways - or of
relevance to conservation, around this Checklist.

This checklist project depends upon the voluntary collaboration of
numerous botanical institutions and individuals worldwide. The urgent
need for a checklist means that it should be completed as quickly as
possible, and a timescale of 5-10 years has been mooted.

To achieve its objectives, IOPI has established a Checklist Committee,
an Information Systems Committee and a number of Working Groups. It is
considered that the sharing of information and experience in planning
and operating networks will benefit both IOPI and other groups concerned
with biodiversity.

For further information regarding IOPI, contact ...

name        Mr. Alex George
            IOPI Secretary
address     Australian Biological Resources Study
            GPO Box 636
            Canberra A.C.T. 2601
            AUSTRALIA

To obtain electronic information about IOPI use anonymous ftp to ...

site         life.anu.edu.au
directory    /pub/biodiversity/iopi

or:

site:        huh.harvard.edu
directory    /pub/standards/iopi

or through the Harvard biodiversity gopher

             gopher huh.harvard.edu 70

The files on the ANU ftp server will be available on gopher early in
the new year.

__________________________________________________________

            IOPI ELECTRONIC NEWS SERVICE
            ============================

IOPI maintains a regular news service about its activities for members
and anyone else interested.

To register for electronic news about IOPI contact ...

name        Dr David Geoffrey Green
email       david.green at anu.edu.au
phone       61-6-249-2490 / 249-5031 / 249-5111 (switch)
fax         61-6-249-4437
address     Bioinformatics Facility
            Research School of Biological Science
            Australian National University
            GPO Box 475  Canberra 2601 AUSTRALIA

To submit items of news relevant to IOPI, contact ...

name        Catherine Zellweger
            Chairperson, IOPI Information Systems Committee
email       zellweger at cjb.unige.ch
phone       41 22 732 69 69
fax         41 22 738 45 97
address     Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques
            C.P. 60
            CH-1292 Chambisy
            SWITZERLAND




____________________________________________________________________________
Jim Croft                [Herbarium CBG]           internet: jrc at anbg.gov.au
Australian National Botanic Gardens                   voice:  +61-6-2509 490
GPO Box 1777, Canberra, ACT 2601, AUSTRALIA             fax:  +61-6-2509 599
______a division of the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service______