The Principal Investigator, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility β Biodiversity Information Development (GBIF-BID) Project Team on βExpanding the visibility of the Lagos Herbarium through Digitization and Mobilization of Plant Specimen Dataβ, Dr. Temitope Onuminya has called for the digitization and mobilization of plant specimen data in Lagos.
The call was made at a blended stakeholdersβ engagement meeting held on Thursday, January 13, 2022 at the Faculty of Science Boardroom. The meeting had in attendance participants from the Department of Botany, Lagos State University; Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency; Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources; Lagos State Parks and Garden Agency (LASPARK); Shodex Gardens to mention a few.
While introducing the project, she informed that the Herbarium, located in the Department of Botany, ΄σΟγ½ΆΚΣΖ΅ established in 1971, is the oldest institutional herbaria in Nigeria. The herbarium presently has a collection of over 10,000 plants, 70% of which are vascular plants and carpological in nature (samples preserved in alcohol).
She pointed out some issues which the project seeks to address, which include cataloguing of plant samples and even when catalogued are hand written notes in registers. She also pointed out that these samples are only physically stored without digital documentation. It is therefore not visible or accessible outside their current location.
To this end, the project team on Expanding the visibility of the Lagos Herbarium through Digitization and Mobilization of Plant Specimen Data was created, and is funded by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). As the name implies, the sole aim of the team is to mobilize, digitize and publish information/data on plant species in Lagos on the GBIF platform. The project is expected to run for 18 months (April 2021 β October 2022).
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is an international network of organizational participants, consisting of 34 countries with the purpose of enabling free and open access to biodiversity data from all sources as well as supporting biodiversity science, environmental research, and evidence-based decision-making. Its efforts are coordinated through a global informatics infrastructure and collaborative network.
While addressing some concerns from the participants, Dr. Onuminya assured participants that every data β metadata, checklists, occurrence data and sampling event data – mobilized and submitted by them to the Lagos Herbarium will be published under their names and will remain the intellectual properties of their institutions.
The Dean, Faculty of Science, Prof. Elijah Oyeyemi, in his welcome address, called for the keeping of records as it will ensure future accessibility of such information and assured all that the workshop would open the eyes of the participants to the importance of the digitization of data.
The Head of Department of Botany, Dr. Omobolanle E. Ade-Ademilua represented by the sub-Dean of the Faculty, Dr. Kadiri, in her brief address noted that it is indeed necessary to digitize plant specimens as herbaria keep parts of natural importance for future references.
The project is open to all and everyone with existing specimens to share with the Lagos Herbarium are encouraged to approach the team at the Department of Botany, ΄σΟγ½ΆΚΣΖ΅ for inclusion on the GBIF platform.
