On May 23, 2022, at a public ceremony chaired by H.E. Fernando de Sousa, Vice Minister of Land and Environment, the new Biodiversity Information System of Mozambique (SIBMOZ) was officially launched. This pioneer tool for the country was developed between 2021 and 2022 through a partnership between the National Directorate of Environment, under the Ministry of Land and Environment, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), which developed the concept with support from SPEED program from USAID, and UNEP-WCMC which funded the development of the portal through the CONNECT project, with technical support from WCS for content development.
The SIBMOZ is an online open access portal that is hosted at the Ministry of Land and Environment and is part of the global information exchange network established under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Its main objective is to centralize and provide any citizen or entity with relevant and validated information on national biodiversity, contributing to the promotion of technical and scientific cooperation, as well as to the sharing of knowledge and data, facilitating the decision-making process and promoting the sustainable use of biodiversity in the country.
In the portal now available at https://sibmoz.gov.mz/ it is possible to easily and quickly access official information on species and ecosystems of Mozambique and their respective conservation status, information on Key Biodiversity Areas and Conservation Areas, or even on biodiversity offset projects underway in the country and their reference documents. The SIBMOZ provides access to interactive maps and databases hosted on the portal itself and on other national and international reference websites. It also provides access to information on the several conventions related to biodiversity ratified by Mozambique, the legal framework, national policies and strategies on biodiversity, on partners working in the area of conservation and other relevant complementary information.
These features make SIBMOZ one of the most dynamic global biodiversity portals, and the reference for information on biodiversity in Mozambique.