Small Collections Grant

The digitalization will be carried out by means of a high-resolution Epson scanner that the Herbarium already has but that is out of use due to lack of maintenance. After the scanner is again operational we will scan the non-digitized Type collections and also, those families in critical danger of attack by insects and fungi, for example Apocynaceae, Begoniaceae, Bignoniaceae and Cucurbitaceae. The goal is to digitize at least 3000 specimens and once digitized, the shelves housing these families can be sealed tightly to prevent the entry of insects.

Critically endangered type specimens and important collections from the Andean region of Venezuela will be sent to the US Herbarium in Washington DC and from there will be sent to specialists from other herbaria such as MO and NY. The shipment will be made from Arauca-Colombia, as the shipping system in Venezuela does not work and there is a high risk of losing the specimens. Most of the samples will be sent as loans to be returned to PORT once the country's situation improves. However, duplicates will be sent as exchange.

The crisis in Venezuela has made it impossible to incorporate specimens into the collection and about 15,000 numbers of different collectors have already been accumulated. These plants in newspapers are at greater risk of attack by insects and become sources of contamination, so once we obtain the materials needed to mount the plant specimens, they will be processed as quickly as possible. This will necessitat