South African National Parks has introduced the Biodiversity Information Management System (BIMS) – a new digital platform designed to improve biodiversity data management for national parks and marine protected areas.

Developed by the Freshwater Research Centre and Kartoza, and funded by the JRS Biodiversity Foundation, the system expands on the existing Freshwater Biodiversity Information System (FBIS). It integrates occurrence data from park checklists, publications, monitoring records and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

The BIMS allows users to input, update and access species checklists, providing a consolidated view of biodiversity data across protected areas. However, users must interpret outputs carefully as there may be inaccuracies due to variations in taxonomic naming and classification.

The system enables users to filter and query data based on time, location, conservation status and occurrence records. Future enhancements, subject to funding, include the integration of climate data similar to the climate data functionality available on FBIS.