The Global Taxonomy Initiative

The Global Taxonomic Initiative (GTI) was created to remove or reduce the "taxonomic impediment". The GTI has been established by the Conference of the Parties (COP) to address the lack of taxonomic information and expertise available in many parts of the world, and thereby to improve decision-making in conservation, sustainable use and equitable sharing of the benefits derived from genetic resources. This is the first time in history that taxonomy has had recognition at such a high level in international policy.

The GTI was developed by governments, under the Convention on Biological Diversity, and is implemented by many actors including governments, non-government and international organizations, as well as taxonomists and the institutions where they work. Taxonomy is important for all types of ecosystems, and therefore the initiative is a cross-cutting issue applicable to all of the work under the Convention. The GTI is specifically intended to support implementation of the work programmes of the Convention on its thematic and cross-cutting issues.

The Guide to the GTI

This Guide is a comprehensive introduction to the GTI, including discussion of its background, the programme of work, and links to further information. It has been developed pursuant to decisions of COP, and following the outline endorsed by the SBSTTA in recommendation X/12.

In addition, the European GTI Toolkit is a useful comprehensive tool that covers GTI topics in further detail.