AAs of this month, the three state universities in São Paulo assumed responsibility for maintaining the research tools developed by the Biota-Fapesp Program, over eight years of existence. The institutionalization of the Virtual Biodiversity Institute was formalized on August 2nd, at Fapesp, in São Paulo, in an agreement signed between the institutions, represented by the rectors José Tadeu Jorge, from Unicamp; Suely Vilela, from the University of São Paulo (USP); and Marcos Macari, from the São Paulo State University “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (Unesp). Also participating in the ceremony were the president of Fapesp, Carlos Vogt, and the entity's scientific director, Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz, as well as authorities linked to the environment at the federal, state and municipal levels.

Virtual Biodiversity Institute is institutionalized

The Biota-Fapesp Program represents a reference in terms of organizing research projects in the country, in addition to producing high-quality research, endorsed by international bodies. Over the years, the initiative has enabled an x-ray of biodiversity in the State of São Paulo, with emphasis on the local environmental wealth. More than 500 new species of plants and animals were discovered, generated in a total of 75 projects, supported by Fapesp, which invested around US$2 million annually in the program.

He also formed an army of 150 masters and 90 doctors. “Biota was designed, planned and implemented by the scientific community with the support of Fapesp. It started with the effort to not only produce scientific material, but also to serve as a basis for improving public policies”, highlighted professor Carlos Joly, member of the Coordination Committee. According to him, the program has a large set of tools and systems that does not involve further research. “Maintenance requires machines, trained staff and adequate infrastructure that coordination cannot handle, and Fapesp cannot finance because it involves systems maintenance and not research and development,” he explained.

Joly, main mentor of the program whose planning and implementation he coordinated from 1996 to 2004, believes that institutionalization ends a stage, at the same time that it opens up space for new horizons, such as, for example, articulations for internationalization. In this sense, the program brought to Brazil professor Michel Loreau, from McGill University in Canada, and president of the Scientific Committee of Diversitas, one of the most important research institutions on Biodiversity in the world. Biota Program project coordinators discussed with him and Anne Larigauderie, executive secretary of Diversitas, the possibilities of partnerships and exchanges that are fundamental to making Biota an international reference program.

The president of Fapesp, professor Carlos Vogt, defined the agreement as a “certificate of majority” for Biota and an important paradigm to be considered as a reference. For Brito Cruz, the new stage of the program was only possible thanks to the articulation capacity and effort of the scientific community involved. “Finding common ground for collaboration between researchers in the same field is not the easiest task. So much so that there are not many communities that can interact in such a spectacular way as the one we find in Biota,” he declared. The scientific director highlighted that institutionalization ratifies a commitment that already existed between the institutions.

The agreement, according to Brito Cruz, guarantees the permanence and availability to the community of valuable tools developed through the efforts of researchers. The rector of Unicamp, Tadeu Jorge, highlighted the agreement as positive for universities to fulfill their role in training Human Resources and, also, the importance of accumulated scientific production for the formulation of public policies. “Organizing knowledge to allow it to serve as a basis for even greater advancement is fundamental. This is a highlight that must be made in the new phase of Biota. It is important to coordinate actions with the aim of enhancing the use of information already available and optimizing research results for direct and effective benefit to society”, he commented.

In practice, the agreement transfers the responsibility for maintaining and preserving the products developed by Biota to universities, but the gateway to the Program continues to be the Coordination Committee, which will be responsible for forwarding projects to related groups. And the financing of research projects approved on scientific merit continues to be provided by Fapesp through Grants, Thematic Projects and/or Young Researchers, according to instructions available at http://www.fapesp.br/materia.php?data[id_materia ]=831.

Under the agreement, Unicamp will be responsible for maintaining the Environmental Information System (SinBiota) – a tool that provides data on approximately four thousand species of plants, animals and microorganisms found in the state. Unicamp will have the structure of the National High Performance Center (Cenapad), linked to the Ministry of Science and Technology, which should receive equipment for this.

The Atlas, which consists of a map of São Paulo's vegetation, and the electronic scientific magazine Biota Neotropica, published quarterly, will also be managed by Unicamp. USP and Unesp will be responsible for the Bioprospecting and Bioassay Network, with information on characterization of molecules, collection of extracts and cultures associated with the final stage of synthesis and medical clinic until the product reaches the market. The agreement is open to other institutions that are interested in housing the products. In eight years, Unicamp has developed 15 research projects, four of which are under development. This significant participation in the program resulted in a contribution of resources from Fapesp in the order of R$9 million.

Brazil can participate in biodiversity panel

During the event that celebrated the partnership between the universities, representatives of the Ministries of Environment and Science and Technology, respectively, Braúlio Ferreira de Souza Dias and Herbert Otto Roger Schubart, signaled positively for carrying out a consultation with the scientific community on the possibility of Brazil participates in the International Mechanism for Scientific Knowledge in Biodiversity (Imoseb). Imoseb, presented to researchers by its vice-president, professor Michel Loreau, would function similarly to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) for the Climate Convention.

Discussions at the international level, according to Joly, have been taking place for three years, while in Brazil the subject was considered taboo. “We are excited about the possibility of opening discussions. This is an advance. Federal government representatives made it clear that the issues will be addressed within the scope of the Biodiversity Convention, a body in which Brazil has already participated since ECO-92”.

One of the major obstacles highlighted by the scientific community is the predominance of political aspects in the Convention's debates. “Researchers need to be heard. We have the Biota Program that provides information about the State of São Paulo, but trained personnel are needed to analyze the data”, he highlighted. Souza Dias, however, recognized the fragility in attempts at rapprochement and dialogue between research institutions and the political sphere, but does not believe in articulations that did not include the scientific and political community. The consultation in Brazil should take place over the next two months, as the Convention that will define the format of Imoseb takes place in November, in Montpellier, France.

Historical Biota

1995 / 6 - PROBIO/SP, a program created by the Department of the Environment, defines the priority areas for conservation of the São Paulo cerrado and creates the official list of species threatened with extinction in the State of São Paulo. This reaches the limit of what was possible to do with the knowledge already available in the area. Attempts to bring the Secretariat and the scientific community closer together are starting to come up against the incompatibility of the agenda between medium and long-term research and the political agenda that demands more immediate actions. As a result, the discussion on a Research Program on Conservation and Sustainable Use of São Paulo's Biodiversity is taken to the agenda of the Coordination of Biological Sciences and the Scientific Directorate of Fapesp. That same year, the Foundation convened part of the interested scientific community to define what role it could play in the creation of this program. At this meeting, a Coordination Group was created, which immediately created a homepage, a discussion list and began diagnosing the knowledge already available about the State's biodiversity. This survey included the identification of research groups, as well as the infrastructure for conservation “in situ” (Parks, Biological Reserves, Ecological Stations, etc...) and “ex situ” (Museums, Herbaria, Cultural Collections, Germplasm Banks, etc...).

1997 - A workshop was organized in Serra Negra, where the Biota structure was born, as a set of research projects linked together.

1998 - Formatting of projects and submission to Fapesp, which subjected them to the traditional evaluation process by “ad hoc” advisors and, subsequently, to an international evaluation. When these projects began to be approved, the knowledge diagnosis was also completed and was published in the Biodiversity of the State of São Paulo series, in seven volumes. Simultaneously, the first approximations of the maps of the remaining native vegetation were made.

1999 - In March, Fapesp officially created the Biota/Fapesp Program: The Virtual Biodiversity Institute. In the first year of its creation, it had a huge impact on society. It won one of the biggest awards in the area of ​​biodiversity conservation, Henry Ford, as the best initiative of the year.

2000 - Start of development of SinBiota – Environmental Information System (http://sinbiota.cria.org.br/) and Atlas (http://sinbiota.cria.org.br/atlas/)

2001 - Launch of the electronic journal Biota Neutropica (http://biotaneotropica.org.br), which today publishes three issues annually and has its website visited by more than a thousand users/day. The strict editorial policy implemented meant that in seven years the magazine became a national reference, being classified as Qualis A by some Capes committees, integrating SciELO and being indexed abroad by Zoological Record and CAB Internacional.

2003 - Start of the bioprospecting project, BIOprospectTA (http://www.bioprospecta.org.br/) with the aim of identifying new molecules in plants, animals and microorganisms of potential interest for the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, food or pesticide industry . This guarantees the realization of the economic potential of biodiversity and its sustainable use.

2007 - The maintenance of products and tools developed during the eight years of the Biota-Fapesp Program becomes the responsibility of the three state universities in São Paulo based on an agreement signed by the deans of the educational institutions.