Incheon, January 19 - The National Institute of Biological Resources (NIBR; President Suh Min-hwan) of the Ministry of Environment (ME) recently established its digitization strategy for the "Biodiversity in the Korean Peninsula." NIBR announced that it would offer converged services on various biodiversity data based on the metaverse* from the end of this year.

* Metaverse is a portmanteau of "meta," meaning abstraction, and "universe," meaning world. It is a virtual 3D space where users participate in avatars as if they're in the real world.

NIBR plans to offer tangible services of biological specimens in a virtual and digital space based on more than three million pieces of biodiversity data (e.g., National Species Lists of Korea, specimens, materials, sounds, videos, images, genetic information), provided through the biodiversity in the Korean Peninsula website since 2010.

More plans for 2026 include the expansion of the scope of virtual experiences for the distribution of organism data banks (e.g., native species, extracts) and wild animal prediction experiences in a virtual space.

In particular, the NIBR will establish a data dam* to encompass the biodiversity data managed by the government for five years. The NIBR actively plans to provide tangible information experiences to the public through a virtual biology center and digital exhibitions. 

* Data dam is storage that gathers data to revitalize the data economy and is one of the ten key tasks of the Korean New Deal that the government announced on July 14, 2020.

In addition, the NIBR will prepare a "multimedia storage," a converged technology of biological resources and phased digitization. With this, it also intends to share information with other ME organizations, such as the Nakgdonggang National Institute of Biological Resources, Honam National Institute of Biological Resources, National Institute of Ecology, and Korea National Park Service biological resources.

Additionally, NIBR plans to raise awareness of biodiversity and strengthen the management system of public data through information disclosure.

Head of NIBR Biological Resources Utilization Department, Choi Jong-won, said, "We plan to develop the various potential of using biological resources through a virtual reality service of native species." He added, "We intend to provide user-centered information services and utilize high-quality digital media, thus securing biodiversity data and strengthening the effort for open resources."

Contact: KIM Tae-ho, Researcher 

Resource Utilization Dept., NIBR

032-590-7418