The program makes precise, detailed maps that eliminate much of the guesswork from the slow,expensive process of finding and recovering wild species.

The Need

Under the pressure of rapidly growing human populations and expanding economies, the earth's biodiversity is being eroded at an alarming rate. Among the threatened species are plants and beneficial insects that could hold the keys to food security, a safer environment, better medicines, and other necessities of life.

Recent international agreements provide at least a framework for safeguarding biodiversity. But to actually get the job done, researchers need reliable tools for key tasks, such as determining where wild species of interest can be found. And once found, can be conserved.

A Solution

FloraMap, the product of more than 20 years of research at CIAT, is one such tool. With its user-friendly software linked to agroclimatic and other databases, biodiversity specialists can create maps showing the most likely distribution of wild species in nature. Such maps are extremely valuable for tasks such as planning collection expeditions and deciding where to locate programs for in situ conservation.

Early versions of the program have been used successfully to guide plant collecting, to study the taxonomic and genetic variation of particular species, and to map the distribution of crop pests and their natural enemies. The prerelease version was thoroughly evaluated by a select panel of genetic resources experts.

FloraMap can be used for virtually any species, almost anywhere in the tropics.