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GBIF, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, was established in 2001 to take on a special set of tasks that will make it possible for policy- and decision-makers, research scientists and the general public all around the world to electronically access the world's supply of primary scientific data on biodiversity.
Balancing the needs of people with actions necessary to sustainably manage living resources is the greatest challenge of the 21st century. Children and grandchildren of people living today will suffer from the ills of environmental degradation (impure air and water, reduced food supplies, emergent diseases) if decisions made now are not much better than those made in the past.
Increasing concerns about endangerment of economically important services provided to humanity by biodiversity have led to increasingly urgent calls for good scientific data and information on which to base management decisions. A number of efforts at conservation through information are being led by governmental agencies, universities and non-governmental organisations around the world.
Facilitating the work of these organisations and agencies, GBIF provides digital access to primary scientific data on biodiversity. Its Work Programme is carried out in collaboration with entities that have complementary missions. Avoidance of both competition and unnecessary duplication of effort is a mainstay of the GBIF philosophy.
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