Good practice in action: Open dialogue
The second example is a conservation project funded through the Department of Conservation (Biodiversity Funds section). This process has greatly reduced paperwork, time, and costs for both organisations.
Open dialogue has allowed the organisations involved to address the many challenges they face. It is vital that they continue to have a good, honest, and open relationship to ensure the success of the New Zealand Organics Register (NZOR). In 2010 it is in its second year of a 3-year work programme.
Key contract features included:
Making contact easier - The Biodiversity Fund free phone 0800 number provides clients with access at no charge to discuss any aspect of their proposal prior to application, or at any stage of implementation of approved projects.
The Terrestrial and Freshwater Biodiversity Information System (TFBIS) is a programme to increase awareness of, and access to, fundamental data and information about terrestrial and freshwater biota and biodiversity. This is managed through the Department of Conservation. In 2008, TFBIS initiated dialogue between agencies involved in biodiversity management for the support of a New Zealand Organisms Register (NZOR).
NZOR is a national information infrastructure project to mobilise, integrate, and share authoritative taxonomic information critical to maintaining New Zealand’s conservation and biosecurity decision support systems and processes. The outcome will be a digital catalogue of taxonomic data associated with more than 100,000 organism names relevant to New Zealand and made available on the internet.
NZOR is a cross-sector project, with a governance structure that ensures that all key organisations are involved and have input into the information contained. It also ensures that data from multiple providers can be used to build the register.
Landcare Research has been contracted by TFBIS to develop and populate NZOR in collaboration with National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Te Papa, the Department of Conservation, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Biosecurity), the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA), the Ministry of Fisheries, the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology, local government, museums, universities, and NGOs.
During the first year of the project, the governance structure has been put in place, a user needs analysis has been carried out, data provision and data use agreements have been established, and an initial cache of NZOR data from nominated providers has been compiled.
