During the workshop, data managers and providers from Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam will establish a mechanism on collecting, providing and sharing information on biodiversity and address the challenges on information and knowledge management.

ACB Executive Director Rodrigo U. Fuentes said the workshop will help build the capacity of participating countries to establish and strengthen biodiversity information exchange and harmonization.

"ASEAN countries have numerous available biodiversity information located in various different government agencies. However, there is no mechanism to share such information within the region. The European Union-funded ACB, an intergovernmental and international regional centre of excellence of the ASEAN aimed at creating, promoting, and developing links with the public, private sector, civil society, international development institutions, and donor community for the sustainable use of biodiversity, has taken the lead in promoting the regional exchange of relevant knowledge on biodiversity," Director Fuentes explained.

The exchange of biodiversity information among ASEAN countries is vital to meeting their commitment to the implementation of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). One of the mechanisms to exchange information on biodiversity is the clearinghouse mechanism (CHM), a knowledge management tool to mainstream and monitor progress of the ASEAN countries in implementing their national biodiversity strategic plans. The workshop will assist ASEAN countries in establishing national CHMs, including CHM websites.

According to Connie Garcia, director of ACB’s Biodiversity Information Management component, the Hanoi workshop is part of a series of workshops that will to foster regional discussion, sharing of knowledge, best practices and lessons learned in the area of biodiversity data sharing and harmonization. "Information sharing is necessary to assist policy makers and stakeholders to meet country obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity," Garcia explained.

The convention was signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992 and entered into force on Dec. 29, 1993. It is the first global agreement to cover all aspects of biological diversity: The conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources.

The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity is an inter-governmental and international regional center which aims to create, promote and develop links with the public, private sector, civil society, international development institutions, and donor community for the sustainable use of biodiversity.

ACB is funded by the ASEAN and the European Union.