Collections & Data

The size of our collections is estimated at 38 million specimens (objects from nature). That makes us one of the ten most important natural history collections in the world. Together with the collection of the AfricaMuseum (10 million specimens) and the collection of the Meise Botanic Garden (4 million), the Belgian Federal collection is even the third largest in Europe, just after those of the London and Paris museums.

These natural history collections, which are the result of many decades of exploration and research, help us to better understand the history of life on Earth and biodiversity, and to come up with better ways of protecting the environment.
 

Biological collections can be a starting point for studies on biodiversity loss, climate change, invasive species and the vectors of diseases. Palaeontological collections help reconstruct the impact of environmental changes on fauna and flora of long ago. Geological collections help to map the underground and identify sustainable resources in the transition to a green society. 

For several years now, the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences has been committed to an ambitious program to digitise its collections. Many zoological specimen data are moreover made findable, accessible and re-usable through the RBINS Registry in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Our Institute also manages large databases, resulting from monitoring and other research activities and available for new studies, as well as an ever-growing frozen collection of tissues and molecules.