LifeWatch was established as part of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructure (ESFRI) and can be seen as a virtual laboratory for biodiversity research. The concept behind LifeWatch was developed in the 1990s and early 2000s, with the support of EU Networks of Excellence related to biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. This - amongst others - included the MarBEF project, which was the driving project behind the creation of both the European node of the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (EurOBIS) and European Register of Marine Species (ERMS) - the predecessor of the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS).

Belgium contributes to LifeWatch with varied and complementary “in-kind” contributions. These are implemented under the form of long lasting projects by different research centers and universities spread over the country and supported by each respective political authority. Within LifeWatch, the Flanders Marine Institute - host of the European node of the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (EurOBIS) and the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) - has taken on the responsibility to develop the LifeWatch Species Information Backbone (LW-SIBb). This Backbone also includes OBIS, allowing people to combine services spanning e.g. WoRMS & OBIS in one go.

Contributions:

• EurOBIS
• Antarctic OBIS