Biodiversity Resources Development

The project seeks to demonstrate that increased and systematically catalogued information about species would increase the value of biological diversity and the marketability of biodiversity services. It supports (1) development of a framework for a comprehensive inventory and protocols for collection and cataloguing for four taxa (Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, and fungi), (2) complete the collection and cataloguing of these four taxa, (3) develop human capacity in systematic biology, especially at the parataxonomist level, (4) develop revenue- and non-revenue-generating activities and increase awareness of the values of biodiversity, and (5) strengthen institutional capacity at INBio. Collection activities will start in the Guanacaste Conservation Area, and will expand to other conservation areas during project implementation, according to agreed criteria.