In 2006 the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) and the GBIF Secretariat started a 3-year cooperation between Sud Expert Plantes (SEP) and CEPDEC.

SEP is an initiative launched by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to support the efforts of developing countries in Western and Middle Africa, the Indian Ocean and South East Asia to know, preserve and sustainably use their plants and associated genetic resources.

SEP-CEPDEC is open to the 22 francophone countries participating in SEP. This collaboration, supported by GBIF France as mentor Node, will assist in  the planning, support and development of national biodiversity information networks (nBIFs) in SEP countries that are already GBIF participants (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Guinea and Madagascar). The remaining countries (Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo, Burundi, Chad, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon and Rwanda; and Mauritania that recently joined GBIF) will benefit from the training activities, materials and guidelines prepared or adapted by GBIF France for francophone audiences.