On October 12 to 20, 2022, during the annual workshops of Belgium's partner countries, a training course on the Biodiversity Information Center (CHM) and on the DaRT tool were organized by the Burundian Office for Environmental Protection (OBPE) in partnership with the Royal Institute of Natural Sciences of Belgium (IRSNB).

Were present:

The participants who were present at this session consisted of the trainers Mr Han, Head of the Belgian CHM and Eric, the CHM managers of the various countries including Burundi, Kenya, the DRC, Niger, Benin, Niger, Benin, Guinea, Benin, Guinea, Benin, Guinea, Benin, Guinea, Guinea, Guinea, Congo, Guinea, Benin, Guinea, Guinea, Congo, Guinea Conakry, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Bissau, Morocco, Burkina Faso, Togo, etc.

The workshop started with a presentation of the context of this training workshop on the CHM which was given by Mr. Han De Koeijer, National Focal Point (NFP) of the Belgian CHM and trainer on the CHM. After that, a presentation by the various representatives of the CHMs from the various countries followed. Subsequently, the trainer pointed out that as most CMHs are in the process of migrating from the old PTK tool to the new Bioland tool, it was noted that difficulties persist, which makes it essential to strengthen capacity in this area.

After the presentation of the context of the training workshop, an opportunity was given to the various representatives of CHMs from different countries to present the various achievements of their CHM since December of the year 2021 to the month of October 2022. The month of December 2021 was chosen as a reference because the various officials of the CHMs participated in Niger in a sub-regional workshop of the CHM-Belgian partner countries on the CHM. At the end of this workshop, the achievements should allow participants to transfer data posted with the old PTK tool to Bioland and to be able to organize the latter. Note that it was during this workshop in December 2021 in Niger, which saw the participation of Mr. NDAYIKEZA Longin, that Burundi was chosen to organize the 2022 workshops of Belgium's partner countries.

Presentations by CHMs managers from different countries

Presentations by CHMs managers from different countries

Through these presentations, the representatives of the various CHMs presented the various achievements while mostly pointing out that the transfer of data to the new Bioland tool was in progress for some and already in the finalization phase for others. It was also an opportunity to share experiences in this area again.

However, constraints in carrying out CHM tasks have been raised, in particular:

• Lower involvement of CHMs in projects working in the field of biodiversity;
• Lower involvement of contributors in posting or sharing information;
• Lower knowledge of the CHM and its importance within ministries;
• Limited access to information as a result of less institutional collaboration;
• Limited access to an internet connection;
• Etc.

Some technical difficulties in posting information on the Bioland site have been reported:

• Formatting images in web pages
• No notification alerts quickly;
• Approval of a slow document;
• Deleting problem;
• The old site no longer opens following a server shutdown, which does not allow the transfer of the remaining information.

After these various presentations, the trainer strengthened the capacity to organize information on the Bioland site. According to the trainer, it was found that although the information transferred to the Bioland site, it still requires reorganization to facilitate its consultation by readers.