ABSTRACT
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) entered into force in 1993 with the aim to protect nature, ensure sustainable use of living resources and ensure that the access and benefits arising from the sustainable use are shared between the 'providers' and 'users' of biodiversity. The chapter examines the sharing of information on specimens in a 'commons approach' to ownership and licenses. Open exchange of information is the way forward to promote human and environmental well-being. The chapter also focuses on Kenya and eastern Africa. The Encyclopedia of Life (EoL) is centred on the concept of a 'webpage for every species'. EoL, in contrast to The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), is very focused on the species, so national faunas and floras are not easily assembled; the information on the occurrences of a species is more secondary here than in GBIF. The International Barcode of Life Projects (iBOL) promotes the use of DNA barcoding for specimen identification.
