WHY ARE BIODIVERSITY MUSEUMS IMPORTANT?
Biodiversity Museums house specimens of organisms collected by different people at different locations and times. They allow today's researchers to benefit from the work of others.
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Building the plant collection
Well-documented and accurately identified plant collections are essential for learning about a region’s plants. They are a basic resource for checking the identification of new specimens and detailed information about where they grow and when they flower. To provide this information, museums need multiple specimens from different locations and, today, they need to share the information from their specimens via the web. This increases the value of individual specimens. The Foundation is encouraging data sharing by collections in Somaliland.
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Specimens are the the most useful resources for scientific study because they can be examined in ways that images cannot be, but images that show diagnostic features are also useful and, in the case of well known animals, preferable. In 2024, the the Biodiversity Museum at the University of Hargeisa started sharing documented animal images via OpenZooMuseum and GBIF. The initial focus is on insects but it will be adding other animals, including some of images taken earlier.
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Working with scientists at other institutions
Museum specimens must be correctly identified if they are to be useful. So where does one start? By asking for help from specialists at other museums! So far, we have asked for - and received - help from scientists in six different countries. Everyone we have asked has been very generous with their time and knowledge. Thanks in large part to their help, several species have been added to Somaliland’s known biodiversity, detailed information is being accumulated for species known to be present, and a critical resource for biodiversity research is being developed in Somaliland. On the left, we show some of the individuals who have helped us identify the plants in the collection.