BIO PORTAL UP - Malawi develops central node on biodiversity clearing mechanism
Clearing House Mechanism is a central node for appropriate knowledge sharing and information exchange of data on biodiversity and natural resources aimed at providing easy access to information
THYOLO, Malawi (Planet Defence) - The Environmental Affairs Department (EAD) has taken a significant step towards coordinating biodiversity and natural resources knowledge management by introducing a Clearing House Mechanism hosted under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
The Clearing House Mechanism serves as a central hub for facilitating knowledge sharing and information exchange related to biodiversity and natural resources. Its primary goal is to provide easy access to relevant information in a well-organized manner.
The department operates as one of the implementing agencies under the World Bank-funded Shire Valley Transformation Programme (SVTP) Phase Two, specifically subcomponent four, focusing on natural resources management.
Mphatso Kalemba, CBD Focal Point Lead at EAD, stated, "The clearing house is designed to allow knowledge capture, cataloguing, content management, knowledge storage and retrieval, knowledge classification, and enriching, which provides easy access to the right information in a well-organized way. This data will support further work under the project, including monitoring the implementation of Environmental and Social Impact Assessments, developing a wetland policy, land use planning, undertaking public awareness, and biodiversity monitoring, among other aspects."
Dr. Nolipher Mponya, Head of Malawi Plant Genetic Resources Centre in the Department of Agriculture Research Services welcomed the establishment of the clearing house mechanism under the CBD, emphasizing the responsibility of Malawians to safeguard their plant genetic resources, describing them as a treasured gift to the nation. She highlighted her efforts in developing a comprehensive inventory of cultivated plant species, matching them with their wild relatives and noting their economic importance.
Dr. Gibson Mphepo, SVTP Natural Resources Management Coordinator, stressed the need for an integrated multi-sector approach to effectively address the scale and complexity of development challenges in the Shire Valley. The Project Development Objective (PDO) focuses on developing irrigated commercial agriculture and strengthening natural resource management in the program area.
Despite the wealth of data generated by the SVTP project on biodiversity and natural resources, there is currently no centralized platform for appropriate knowledge sharing and information exchange. The newly introduced Clearing House Mechanism aims to fill this gap by serving as a portal for national knowledge and data on biodiversity and natural resources under the CBD convention.
Experts drawn from the academia, research institutions, forestry, wildlife, fisheries and agriculture and non-state actors are currently convening to catalogue and populate data in the biodiversity clearing house mechanism, contributing to the preservation of institutional memory and supporting the oversight and coordination of natural resources management activities.