Journal Biodiversidad Neotropical

Abstract

The journal Revista Biodiversidad Neotropical emerges as part of the Programa Regional de Biodiversidad para el Chocó, implemented by the Universidad Tecnológica del Chocó Diego Luis Córdoba (UTCh) to commemorate the International Year of Diversity.

This program started as a project funded by Colciencias with the aim of constructing a baseline of information about the megadiversity of the region. In its initial phase, published and unpublished literature about the Chocoan biodiversity was compiled and grouped accordingly with the five Chocoan subregions, each one accompanied by a descriptive summary. The above mentioned bibliographic compilations were never published. In 2009, with the same goal of generating a baseline of information on Chocoan biodiversity a second effort was possible due to the financial support of the project: Gestión Ambiental Local y Cadenas Productivas of the UTCh, funded by the Agencia de Cooperación Holandesa Nuffic. The above mentioned initiative marks the beginning of the Línea Base del Estado de Conocimiento de la Biodiversidad del Chocó (BIOCHOCÓ), which main goal is to integrate the available information on biodiversity of the Chocoan region at different scales: genes, populations, species, communities, and ecosystems. Another objective of this project is to document and integrate all the available information on Chocoan museum voucher specimens deposited in local, Colombian, and international institutions. The documentation of voucher specimens will include the construction of a georeferenced database, a revision

of their taxonomic status, and the compilation of the scientific literature associated with them.

As a journal Revista Biodiversidad Neotropical primary objective is the dissemination of the results of biological research conducted in the neotropics, from where it takes its name, with a special emphasis on the divulgation of results of the BIOCHOCO project; on this line of ideas, we expect for each number to be enriched with at least one paper that includes a checklist of species from the Chocoan biota.

In this first number we present contributions on healthy applications of biotechnology at the Chocoan region, as well as results of baseline research on zoology and botany.

We invite all the members of the scientific community and related fields interested in the biota of the Neotropics to participate in the construction of this new space of scientific dialogue. We hope that this newly created journal last for many generations and the information contained in its pages will be a useful tool for the decision making process, contributing in this way with the preservation of the rich biological diversity enclosed by the different ecosystems of the Neotropical region.

This effort of the UTCh demonstrate its commitment with the process of social appropriation of knowledge accordingly with its mission and vision regarding biodiversity.