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| What is INBio? |
The National Biodiversity
Institute (INBio) of Costa Rica is a private research
and biodiversity management center, established
in 1989 to support efforts to gather knowledge on
the country’s biological diversity and promote
its sustainable use. The institute works under the
premise that the best way to conserve biodiversity
is to study it, value it, and utilize the opportunities
it offers to improve the quality of life of human
beings.
INBio is a non-governmental,
non-profit, public interest organization of civil
society that works in close collaboration with different
government institutions, universities, the private
sector and other public and private organizations,
both within and outside Costa Rica.
INBio’s work focuses
on the following areas of action:
- Inventory and
Monitoring: This area generates information
on the diversity of species and ecosystems found
in the country. At present, INBio has a collection
of more than 3 million specimens of arthropods,
plants, fungi and mollusks, each one duly identified
and catalogued. It also generates information on
the country’s different ecosystems.
- Conservation:
This area of work utilizes the information generated
and administered by INBio in decision-making processes
related to the protection and sustainable use of
biodiversity, both by the public and the private
sectors. INBio works closely with the National System
of Conservation Areas (SINAC), considering it a
strategic partner in the conservation of the country’s
protected areas.
- Communications
and education: INBio shares information
and knowledge of biodiversity with different segments
of the public, with the aim of creating greater
awareness of the value of biodiversity. Much of
this effort is carried out through INBioparque,
a theme park inaugurated in the year 2000, with
the aim of bringing families and visitors into closer
contact with Costa Rica’s natural resources.
In addition, using other modalities, INBio seeks
to strengthen the environmental aspects of the actions
and decisions of the Costa Rican people.
- Biodiversity
informatics: This area of work develops
and applies computer tools to support the processes
of generation, administration, analysis and dissemination
of information on biodiversity. The information
on each specimen in the biodiversity inventory is
entered into a database called Atta, which the public
may access through INBio’s
web site.
- Bio-prospecting:
This initiative seeks sustainable uses and the commercial
application of biodiversity resources. INBio has
been a pioneer institution in establishing research
agreements to study chemical substances, genes,
etc., present in plants, insects, marine organisms
and microorganisms, which may be utilized by the
pharmaceutical, medical, biotechnology, cosmetics,
food and agricultural industries.
Although
INBio is a national initiative in terms of its sphere
of action, it has also become part of an international
effort aimed at integrating conservation and development.
The application of scientific knowledge on biodiversity
to economic activities such as ecotourism, medicine
and agriculture, or the development of mechanisms
for the charging and payment of environmental services,
exemplify this integration effort and form part
of the activities that attract the attention of
the international community.
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| Mission
To promote a greater awareness
of the value of biodiversity as a means to ensure its conservation
and improve the quality of life of human beings. |
Vision
INBio will turn Nature into a central axis of Costa Rican culture, educational processes and competitive strengths; it will constitute a scientific kernel that will guide the use of the natural capital of Costa Rica and will be most prestigious institution in Latin America in its field of action. |
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Values
- Commitement
- Service
- Transparency
- Integrity
- Respect
- Equity and Justice
- Responsibility
- Innovation and lidership
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Photo:
Fabio Hidalgo, INBio |
Photo: Fabio Hidalgo, INBio
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