The Proforis.nl database contains information on Netherlands Government funded programmes and projects in the areas of international nature, forest, water and biological diversity. In July 2005, the Proforis database lists about 3000 projects. This website is used to inform the general public on the Netherlands government?s worldwide support in these areas. For nearly 1150 of the more relevant projects, detailed information can be accessed through this website.

 www.proforis.nl
    

Using the Database:

To call up PROFORIS from our entry page, click on ‘Projects’. The Selection menu asks you first to indicate which project category you want to search. As default, all categories are searched. Secondly, you are asked which criteria you want to apply for your search. The criteria search menu lists the type of information you may need. You can select whether you want to see all projects or only current or finalised ones (Project Status). PROFORIS lets you search on ‘Country’ or ‘Region’. If you are interested in a specific type of activity, you can search for projects using predetermined keywords (see ‘Keywords’ in the Selection menu) or search on free text words. Each search produces a project sheet with basic information: a description of the project, its activity number, and its objectives and (expected) results and/or impacts.

Links:

In addition to PROFORIS, information about the Netherlands initiatives in forestry, biodiversity and nature management can also be found through the Netherlands Clearing-House Mechanism for Biodiversity website, which serves as a gateway for the Clearing House Mechanism for the Convention on Biological Diversity. PROFORIS is also linked to the EU Tropical Forestry Projects Information System (TROPICS) website, which in its turn provides links to the GTZ (German) and DFID (British) project databases. The website of the European Centre for Nature Conservation has information on nature conservation in Europe.

Ownership and maintenance:

PROFORIS lists projects funded by the Netherlands Government in the area of development cooperation and international nature management. The information is property of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, but may be used by anyone for legitimate purposes. PROFORIS is updated every three months by the International Agricultural Centre, which is part of the Wageningen University and Research Centre.