Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/38473

KEYWORDS : Capacity building;Parataxonomist;Indonesian biodiversity

In order to reach the goals of DIVERSITAS in West Pacific and Asia - International Biodiversity Observation Year (DIWPA-IBOY), it is necessary to build capacity in the region by the participating institutions. A series of Parataxonomist Training Courses on the key major orders of insects have been organized during the years 2004-2006. A total of 49 participants from 27 Institutions in Indonesia have been trained. These courses have been hosted by Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense and Research Center for Biology, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (RC Biology-LIPI), and financial and technical support came through several Japanese Center of Excellence programs supporting the DIWPA-IBOY activities. These courses emphasize field biology through a range of activities, from basic lectures and practical exercises or field works, required for independent research in the highly diverse natural environments of the region. During these trainings, focus was on insect specimens collected by entomological staffs of Bogor Zoological Museum during IBOY sampling activities at Gunung Halimun National Park (a core site) in 2002-2003. The insect collection section at the Bogor Zoological Museum benefitted significantly from the processing of these specimens by the course participants during the courses. Thus the courses contribute not only from the point of capacity building, but also in term of collections and identification of the Indonesian insect diversity. Such parataxonomist training courses now need to be extended both into different group of organisms and into different regions throughout the country. Parataxonomists graduating from such courses will be organized into a Parataxonomist Association through which they will be able to contribute to the Indonesian Global Taxonomy Initiative (GTI-CBD).