The official Governing Board meeting takes place from 8 to 10 October with the Science Symposium taking place in the afternoon of 9 October. Associated events, such as Training, Global Nodes meeting and committee meetings, take place prior to the Governing Board meeting.
GBIF will use the 20th meeting of its Governing Board to launch a new version of its global web portal, providing greatly enhanced access to the world’s largest database of documented evidence for the distribution of species across the planet.
The portal launch is open to the press and public, and will be streamed live via the Internet.
Later on the same day, the annual GBIF Science Symposium, also to be streamed live, will showcase key uses of the data made available through the network, including the identification of priority areas for plant conservation in South America; and an investigation of how tropical forests are responding to climate change.