Ch. 11— Biological Diversity and Development Assistance • 299 



databases of use to governments, assistance 

 agencies, and conservation organizations. Still, 

 promoting in-country capacity for such activi- 

 ties is an important goal. First, these databases 

 can provide a finer evaluation (i.e., of higher 

 resolution), defining local priorities within a 

 regional context, than is possible with infor- 

 mation covering larger areas. Second, the proc- 

 ess can foster in-country expertise and bolster 

 environmental effectiveness. 



A major initiative to develop country-level 

 Conservation Data Centers (CDCs) in Latin 

 America and the Caribbean is currently being 

 undertaken by The Nature Conservancy Inter- 

 national (TNCI). CDCs are modeled on the State 

 Heritage Programs begun 15 years ago in the 

 United States. To date, six CDCs have been 

 established in partnership with local institu- 

 tions, with plans to expand this to 35 programs 

 by the end of the decade. In terms of bolster- 

 ing national capacity, the strengths of CDC pro- 

 grams lie in their employment of scientists (a 

 zoologist, a botanist, an ecologist, and a data 

 handler); their emphasis on institutionalizing 

 the system; and their pressure to have local col- 

 laborating agencies adopt operational funding 

 after 3 to 5 years (13). 



The CDC programs devote little attention, 

 however, to public education components. Fur- 

 thermore, although the programs assemble ex- 

 isting information difficult for foreign institu- 

 tions (e.g., from world museums and herbaria), 

 they do little to provide new information in a 

 region where at least five-sixths of the organ- 

 isms are unknown (38). Overall these programs 

 are very useful in identifying areas of conser- 

 vation interest. Accordingly, the U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service has contracted with TNCI to 

 develop databases on distribution of natural 

 plant communities and to identify areas of high 

 endemism and diversity in Latin America (25). 



In lieu of formal CDCs, which could take con- 

 siderable time, resources, and effort to dissem- 

 inate broadly, some developing countries could 

 benefit from more modest systems (35). A sim- 

 ple computer in the office in a ministry or 

 university could record existing studies and 

 represent a major improvement in national ca- 

 pacity. 



Inventorying and monitoring biological re- 

 sources are also important in maintaining 

 genetic diversity among domesticated species. 

 The rate at which farmers are replacing tradi- 

 tional, genetically diverse crop varieties with 

 more uniform, high-yielding varieties is the sub- 

 ject of much concern in industrial and devel- 

 oping countries. Considerable effort to collect 

 and store germplasm has already been made 

 for major crop varieties, with less done for mi- 

 nor crops and wild relatives. 



Efforts have been made to collect data, in- 

 cluding prototypes for national databases, on 

 threatened breeds of livestock in developing 

 countries (12). But, information on genotype 

 loss is inadequate to focus initiatives. USDA 

 could provide assistance in this area through 

 increased support to the FAO and the Interna- 

 tional Board for Plant Genetic Resources, for 

 example, to help develop abilities to monitor 

 losses of livestock and crop genetic resources. 



Building Institutional Support 



The greatest obstacles to addressing the loss 

 of diversity are less technical than economic 

 and political. Consequently, building institu- 

 tional capacity — in both the public and private 

 sectors — is of paramount importance. However, 

 institution-building through development assis- 

 tance is a difficult process that requires both 

 long-term commitment and a stronp apprecia- 

 tion of national sovereignty. 



Concern about the environment is a relatively 

 new addition to the political agendas of devel- 

 oping countries— for many, it dates to the 1972 

 U.N. Conference on the Human Environment 

 held in Stockholm, Sweden. At that time, much 

 of the attention on environmental problems in 

 developing countries was generated from out- 

 side, notably from industrial countries. Most 

 lacked a national constituency among govern- 

 ment agencies, scientists, environmental 

 groups, or the general public that perceived a 

 threat stemming from degradation of the envi- 

 ronment (17). 



A great deal has changed since then. The 

 Stockholm Conference accentuated pollution 

 problems and the need for industrial standard 



