CANHMI is the Central Africa Natural History Museum Initiative: a draft plan to partner North American and European natural history museums with institutions in Central Africa to create taxonomic expertise and functioning regional natural history museums in this biodiversity-rich part of the world.

Why is this a good idea?

The primary repositories of specimens, taxonomic expertise, and public education about biodiversity — natural history museums — are for the most part remote from Earth’s biodiversity hotspots. Regions of the world with the highest proportion of undocumented species, like Central Africa, lack the institutional capacity to describe new species, archive & curate specimens, and to disseminate information about biodiversity to the public and to conservation agencies.

We’d like to change that. Our idea is to involve curators of leading natural history museums in developing taxonomic expertise among Central African biologists and in building the capacity of Central African institutions so that in the near future they can assume a vital role in documenting and protecting the biological riches of this region.

Which countries? Which institutions? What scale? How will CANHMI be funded?

We are in the goal-setting stage of this project and we need your involvement. Send us a message to share your ideas and let us know you’re interested.

Read more on CANHMI.