Guyana’s biodiversity information system must remain nationally owned – EPA Director

The development of Guyana’s National Biodiversity Information System (NBIS) must strengthen national ownership of biodiversity information and build the country’s capacity to independently analyse and use scientific data, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Director Kemraj Parsram has said. Parsram made the remarks during a panel discussion titled “NBIS in Action: A Deep Dive into Biodiversity Information Systems for Conservation and Finance” on Saturday, the second and final day of the 2026 Global Biodiversity Alliance (GBA) Conference in Guyana.

He explained that the objective of the system was not simply to establish a computer platform containing biodiversity data, but to bring together existing research and continuous monitoring to support national reporting, decision-making and future biodiversity financing. “What we want from this NBIS here, and importantly, it’s not just a computer system with data,” Parsram said.

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He was particularly emphatic about the importance of national ownership of the information collected. “The most important thing, though, is that this data, this information, is ours, is Guyana’s,” he stated. Parsram welcomed international partnerships, including the collaboration involving Guyana, Map of Life and Yale, which began the development of the NBIS. However, he stressed that such partnerships must strengthen Guyana’s own institutional and technical capacity.