Greetings Birder/Bird enthusiasts, Bhutan Biodiversity Portal is pleased to announce Bhutan’s First National Bird Month. National bird month will be observed from 17th April to 17th May 2023 to appreciate the pivotal role birds play in an ecosystem and also to acknowledge the bird enthusiast in conserving these magnificent species.
Participants to the NBSAP and 7th National Report pre-meeting. Right to left: Dhendup Tshering (MoF), Jambay Dorji (BFDA), Tshering Pem (NBC Secretariat), Karma C. Nyedrup (NFP to CBD, DoECC), Dr. Karma Dema Dorji (Program Director, NBC), Rinzin Wangmo (Finance, UNDP ) , Choki Gyeltshen (NBC Secretariat), Mani P. Nirola (NFP to Nagoya Protocol, NBC), Lhendup Tharchen (Project Focal, UNDP).
In line with the Conference of Parties (CoP15) of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, a pre-meeting was conducted from 7th-8th April 2023 at Metta Resort in Paro. The meeting aimed to initiate the formation of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plan (NBSAP) Technical Working Group (TWG), its Terms of Reference (ToR), work plan of the GBF Early Action Support (EAS) project, the seventh National Report to the UN Convention on Biodiversity Diversity (CBD), and the project budget plan.
The meeting was attended the National Focal Point (NFP) to CBD from the Department of Environment and Climate Change (DoECC), MoENR; NFP to Nagoya Protocol from NBC; NFP to Cartagena Protocol from the Bhutan Food and Drug Authority (BFDA), MoH; representative from the Department of Macro-Fiscal & Development Finance, MoF; NBSAP Secretariat from NBC; and representatives from the UNDP Bhutan Country Office. The meeting was organized by the National Biodiversity Centre (NBC), MoAL, with financial and technical support from the UNDP Country Office.
A team from the National Biodiversity Centre (NBC), Ministry of Agriculture and Forests and the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in the Netherlands has discovered two species of aquatic snails, which are new to science. The new snails are named as Erhaia benjiiand Tricula tashiae. Now, Bhutan has five species of snails from the genus Erhaia, and two species from the genus Tricula. The journal article is published in the journal Basteria, 2023 describing the new species.
Erhaia benjiiis named in honor of Dasho Paljor J. Dorji (popularly known as Dasho Benji) for his eternal contribution to the environmental and biodiversity conservation in the country. He is a pioneer environmentalist and conservationist in Bhutan.
Tricula tashiae is named in honor of Dr. Tashi Yangzome Dorji, former Program Director of the National Biodiversity Centre and current Director of Department of Livestock, for her support in spearheading the National Invertebrates Inventory project in Bhutan and her role in enhancing biodiversity conservation and sustainable utilization in the country.
Both the species Erhaia benjii and Tricula tashiae were collected in a temperate forest from damp mud along two tiny streams, 15 meters apart. The tiny spring freshwater is of pH ca. 6.5. The specimens were collected by Choki Gyeltshen of the National Biodiversity Centre and his friend Phuntsho Namgyel in May 2022. The temperate forests consist of blue pine, few oak species, rhododendron species, poplar and some bamboo species.
The specimens including the holotypes are deposited at the National Invertebrates Repository under NBC. The species were determined using morphological and DNA analysis.
