RNP has signed a cooperation agreement with the UN Environment in Brazil to improve Brazil's ability to conserve and use its biodiversity through the management and use of information. RNP will be responsible for the execution of customization services and implementation of new modules of the AL (Atlas of Living) platform, an online repository of information integrated with the Sistema de Informação sobre a Biodiversidade Brasileira (SiBBr).

The agreement was signed by RNP General Director, Nelson Simões, and UN Environment Representative Denise Hamú, on 7/7. Resources will be used from the Global Environment Fund (GEF), which aims to ensure the formulation and implementation of data-based policies, facilitating and integrating biodiversity information into decision-making processes.

 “For the UN Environment, the SiBBr platform being hosted at RNP is a great gain, because the Brazilian government's commitment to the sustainability of the investment made by the GEF project is therefore assured,” explains UN Project Manager, Anna Fazeres.

To operationalize the actions established in the cooperation agreement, the UN Environment will be the implementing agency of the project and will be responsible for decentralizing resources with transfers to RNP, as an institution that has the competence to perform the outlined tasks.

 “UN Environment support for SiBBr is key to enhancing the AL-SiBBr Platform to make it a tool of the Brazilian government to support research and policy making using biodiversity data,” says the manager of RNP Solutions, Christian Miziara.

According to the UN Environment, the Brazilian biodiversity data platform benefits both the government and the population, who will have, in a single mechanism, consultation and disclosure of information for environmental interventions and public policy planning.

 “The UN supports open access to information that can also help other countries and institutions to know and recognize the importance of Brazil as a megadiverse country in biodiversity,” explains UN project manager Anna Fanzeres.