Author: NBC

As a part of De-suung Skilling Program, awareness and training on Alien Invasive Plant Species was conducted by the Centre for 15 Desuups and other officials on 30th December 2021 at Lingmethang, Mongar.Invasive species are slowly spreading towards forest and agricultural lands. Thus, effective measures to control the spread of invasive species is important. Currently, inventory and control of invasive plants species are undertaken by the Centre in the Protected Areas system through the funding support from Green Climate Fund under Bhutan For Life project scheme.

The first stakeholder consultation on monitoring the implementation of the 2^nd Global Plan of Action on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA) was held at ARDSC Menchuna, Tsirang on 28^th December 2021.

The objectives of the meeting were to:

• Inform the Stakeholders on FAO’s subsidiary body called Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.
• Inform the stakeholders on Bhutan’s membership to CGRFA, Global Plan of Action on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA),
• On the implementation of the Second Global Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture in Bhutan
• Country’s obligation on the need to monitor the implementation of 2^nd GPA and its relevance to Bhutan in the following context
• Data preparation and entering the information into the WIEWS reporting tool for monitoring progress in implementation of the second Global Action Plan

The meeting was attended by 11 participants from ARDSC Tsirang led by the Officer-In-Charge and with participants from Field Crops Sector and Horticulture Sector.

The consultation was begun by providing background information on Bhutan’s membership to FAO, FAO’s subsidiary bodies like Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, second Global Plan of Action on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (GPA-PGRFA), 18 priority areas of 2^nd GPA  on  Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and the need for reporting on second GPA. The National Biodiversity Centre also provided a demonstration on the use of the online reporting tool WIEWS which the stakeholders are required to use to upload information. However, due to the complexities of the reporting tool, the NBC took up the responsibility of data collection, data preparation, and entry process into the WIEWS on behalf of ARDSC Tsirang. Thus, the consultation addressed the documentation and update of the past activities on the 18 GPA-PGRFA priority activity areas for field crops on those 18 priority areas that are relevant to ARDSC Tsirang.

At the end of day 1 of the consultation, the participants expressed a great sense of happiness as more than providing information for GPA implementation monitoring, the consultation served as a platform for learning many new things that the participants were not aware of.

Documentation and updates of the past activities will continue on the 30^th December with the Horticulture Sector.

This process will be implemented with all other stakeholders like the Department of Agriculture (DoA), Agriculture Research and Development Centers, Sub-Centers, National Seed Centre, other Seed Entities, and other relevant Departments and organizations including Policy and Planning Division, and Department of Forests and Park Services.

The Process will culminate in the preparation of the Country Report from Bhutan on the implementation of the 2^nd Global Plan of Action of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.