LifeWatch Biodiversity Day - Taxonomy: The science behind species discovery

Date: Tuesday, 30th January 2024

Venue: KVAB (Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts), Palace of the Academies, Rue Ducale 1, 1000 Brussels

Theme: Taxonomy: The science behind species discovery

Programme:

13:30-14:00 Registration & coffee

14:00-14:05 Welcome

          Gert Verreet (Dept. Economy, Science and Innovation, Flemish Government)

14:05-14:15 Introduction: Importance of Taxonomy for biodiversity policy

          Hendrik Segers (Institute of Natural Sciences; Coordinator & National Focal Point to the Convention on Biological Diversity)

14:15-15:30 Taxonomic data systems - current state and future perspectives

          14:15-14:40 Taxonomy in the Digital Age - Opportunities to get the Job Done

          Peter Schalk (Naturalis Biodiversity Center; Chair Board of Directors Stichting Catalogue of Life & Species 2000 ltd)

          14:40-15:05 Metrics and insights from the World Register of Marine Species

          Leen Vandepitte (Aphia/WoRMS coordinator, Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ))

          15:05-15:30 The Freshwater Animal Diversity Assessment (FADA): a taxonomic backbone for global biodiversity databases

          Koen Martens (Institute of Natural Sciences, InfraFADA)

15:30-16:10 Coffee break

16:10-17:15 Practical use of taxonomy for biology, distribution and society

          16:00-16:10 Combining taxonomic information, occurrences to highlight the importance of UNESCO World Heritage Sites

          Fanny Douvere (Head Marine Programme, UNESCO World Heritage Sites)

          16:10-16:35 World Forest ID - Filling the science and data gap in global supply chains

           Victor Deklerck (Director of Science, World Forest ID)

          16:35 – 17:00Taxonomies as key instruments in science and conservation: some theoretical perspectives

            Vincent Cuypers (UHasselt, KULeuven)

17:00-17:15 Closing remarks 

17:15 Reception

Free registration here