OPTIMA Newsletter 38

O P T I M A N E W S L E T T E R O P T I M A N E W S L E T T E R O P T I M A N E W S L E T T E R
This Commission was set up at the XI OP-
TIMA Meeting in Belgrade, in 2004, with the aim
to establish links between herbaria and coordinate
their activities. Based on GBIF standards, information
on the availability of holdings was to be
compiled, the presentation of herbarium specimens
on the internet was to be promoted, and
lobbying for a the network of Mediterranean herbaria
was to ensue.
2007. The Commission became operational
at the Pisa Meeting, when a first attempt was
made to prepare a questionnaire for distribution to
the European and Mediterranean Means to improve
the links between herbaria by traditional
and modern technologies were discussed.
A top priority is to improve the accessibility of
collections, in particular by encouraging and coordinating
databasing of label information and preparation of
high-resolution specimen images. Other Commission
tasks are those initially defined in Belgrade.
Contacts are being sought with the Index
Herbariorum, in order to ascertain the conditions a
herbarium must meet to be registered and to suggest
that exceptions be made for historical or
geographical reasons. Additional Commission
members are to be sought in countries such as
Israel, Turkey and the Balkan states.
COMMISSION FOR LICHENS
Secretary: M. Seaward, Bradford
Members: nominations pending
2004-2006. Checklists for most of the countries
or territories of the Mediterranean had been
published or were well advanced. The Commission
planned to link these lists on the Internet and
to wanted to promote the application of the extant
data to generate new outputs such as predictive
maps by means of a GIS.
Regrettably, P. L. Nimis’ resignation as
Secretary of the Commission resulted in misunderstandings
and resulted in a lack of communication.
It was only after the Pisa Meeting (2007) that
the Lichen Commission was revived, under a new
leadership. The Commission supports the idea to
hold its own meetings every few years, at a convenient
locality, not necessarily to coincide with
the venue of the main OPTIMA Meeting. The idea
of a joint Meeting with Mediterranean specialists
for other groups of avascular cryptogams is favourably
envisaged.
O B I T U A R Y N O T I C E S
Dr Nikola Diklić (1925–2008), one of the
greatest Serbian botanists, passed away on 16
November 2008. The scientific value of his results,
his contribution to the knowledge of the flora
of the Balkans, his influence on maintaining high
standards of floristic and taxonomic studies in
Serbia, and his contribution to the education of
young researchers place him among the outstanding
scientific personalities of his country.
None of the databases on the flora of Europe can
do without the data included in the Flora of SR
Serbia / Flora of Serbia edited by him. During over
NIKOLA DIKLIĆ
half a century he published numerous papers,
collected plants for the General Herbarium of the
Balkan Peninsula, which he scientifically processed.
Nikola Diklić became a member of OP-
TIMA in 1977, he has been member of its International
Board, Executive Council and Commission
for Collections and Herbaria, served as Vice-
President for the term 1989-1995, and was president
of the XI OPTIMA Meeting Programme
Committee, Belgrade 2004. At that Meeting, in
2004, he was awarded the well earned OPTIMA
Gold Medal. Olja Vasić
20 OPTIMA Newsletter No. 38 May 2009