– Retain control of environmental data

-by Shamiah Grant

Guyana is launching a border-to-border biodiversity monitoring initiative leveraging AI and low-cost standards to map ecosystems beneath the forest canopy while retaining sovereign control over its environmental data.

Speaking on a panel at the recently concluded global biodiversity alliance summit, Managing Director of the Yale Center for Biodiversity and Global Change, Dr. Alex Killian said the monitoring initiative is structured around core scientific principles.

“This is a distributed network of federateddatabases where each institution owns that database. They own the information. They’re the ones collecting it. And that database and that system serves that local institution and that community,” he said.
Meanwhile, Executive Director of Guyana’s Environmental Protection Agency, Kemraj Parsram explained that the National Biodiversity Information System (NBIS) unifies environmental data to protect ecosystems and will benefit the public.

He said the initiative goes beyond aerial forestry tracking to monitor the complex details beneath the canopy, ensuring national sovereignty over scientific data while welcoming global research partnerships. 
“The Government of Guyana, with Map of Life, Yale, signed this agreement to start this NBIS, to expand the MRV. And so that is where it represents the important collaboration and partnership. And now we’ve expanded that to Field Museum, to CIFOR, and to others,” he said.
And speaking from a regional perspective, Suriname’s Minister of Land and Forest Management, Stanley Soeropawiro, elaborated on the critical need for accurate biodiversity information and long-term financial backing.

“Bringing together information on land rights, forest cover, concessions, protected areas, and biodiversity helps us identify conflicting uses, guide sustainable forest management, and direct conservation efforts where they are most needed,” the minister said.