[Taxacom] the environment (and taxonomy) today

[Donat Agosti]

Here is an interesting comment to todays Earth Day by Elzabeth Kolbert in
the New Yorker.


"In The Air"


http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2009/04/27/090427taco_talk_kolbert

 

This is especially interesting read in regards of the current state of the
state of biodiversity. People seem not to care so much about it, following
the lukewarm actions on the ground, and biodiversity is hardly on the
international agenda anymore.

 

This then means, that despite a biodiversity crisis there is no way at the
moment to do something substantial about it, such as creating dedicated
conservation action. Nor will there be more money for taxonomy.

 

>From that perspective, I wonder what role the forthcoming E-biosphere
meeting in Londong is playing: Hope against any hope? Change this negative
trend? Or might actually lead the fact that more and more small databases
and packets of data are becoming online accessible, being discoverable,
interconnected lead to a quiet revolution once users discover what content
now is or could become available? This might be something that a global
infrastructure without guidance of a truly global research curriculum never
will be able to deliver. And that latter seems not to be on the screen, or
at least is further away than ever.

 

Donat

 

Dr. Donat Agosti

President

Plazi

Research Associate, American Museum of Natural History and Naturmuseum der
Burgergemeinde Bern

Email: agosti at amnh.org

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Blog:  <http://biodivcontext.blogspot.com/>
http://biodivcontext.blogspot.com/

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