18th October 2022: The Center was visited by 35 second year students of Bachelor of Forestry with their lecturer, Mr. Tashi Tobgay from Forest Science Department of the College of Natural Resources, Lobesa.
The student attended the presentation on the NBC followed by visiting the facilities of the Centre, namely, National plant Genebank, National Animal Genebank, National Herbarium, Bioprospecting laboratory and the facilities at the Royal Botanical Garden including the Biodiversity Interpretation Centre and the Orchidarium.
The five Technical Assessment team members led by Dr. Nelissa Jamora Project Manager of Crop Trust Fund, Dr. Paula Bramel Review Chair Consultant, Dr. Stephen William Adkins Review Consultant from Australia, Dr. Sally Norton Review Consultant from Australia and Dr. Luigi Guarino Chief Scientists, from Italy, Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT) based in Bonn Germany have visited National Biodiversity Centre Serbithang, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests from 8th to 16th October 2022 for Technical Assessment of our Gebebank. GCDF is an independent, international non-profit organization dedicated to conserving and making crop diversity available for use globally, forever and for the benefit of everyone.
They were here for the following objectives:
1. To conduct the technical review of the genebank to assess the adequacy and cost-effectiveness of the staff, facilities, equipment, and visit field sites for the sustainable conservation and active use of the collections
2. To provide guidance on ways to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of genebank operations and management
3. The findings and recommendations of the reviewers will be put into a Technical Review Report.
4. The technical review report will serve as the basics to identify priority actions for upgrading and improvement of the genebank under Biodiversity for Opportunity Livelihoods and Development work package 1 strengthening national genebanks through the signing of a Project Agreement between GNHC and the Crop Trust
5. The review will ultimately result in strengthening the capacity of Bhutan National Genebank. They made thorough assessments of our genebank and even presented their findings and feedback. We will get a thorough report of their findings within two weeks’ time. They were very much impressed and the efforts that we were putting into the Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources for future use.
Figure 2: BOLD team members visits to Dasho Secretary Office, MoAF
September 24, 2022: Their Excellencies, Minister Counselor, Mr. Daniel Hachez, Head of Cooperation, European Union, Sanam Lyonpo, Mr. Yeshey Penjor and Hon’ble Secretary, Mr. Thinley Namgyel, MoAF graced inaugurations of the micro-propagation facility and the polycarbonate house at the Royal Botanical Garden, Serbithang (RBGS), which have been established through EU financial support.
The micro-propagation laboratory will be a significant change at the RBGS, making the mass productions possible by multiplying plants through tissues culture, for species such as orchids which takes time or cannot grow from the seeds. Likewise, the polycarbonate house is the temperature and moisture-controlled facility to enhance propagation of the native plants. The facilities will help in reducing pressure on wild populations, imports of exotic species and contribute to conservation of biodiversity.
EU has been instrumental in our efforts towards conservation and sustainable utilization of Biological Resources. The NBC has been a beneficiary of EU’s financial and technical support.
On 15th September 2022, The Royal Botanical Garden Serbithang was graced by the presence of Her Excellency Ms. Kanni Wignaraja, United Nations Assistant Secretary General and Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific (RBAP), and Ms. Azusa Kubota, Resident Representative, UNDP along with officials from UNDP for the formal opening of the accessible footpath for people with disability (PwDs) at the Royal Botanical Garden, Serbithang. The construction of the accessible footpath was supported jointly by GEF-SGP, UNDP, and European Union-Rural Development and Climate Change Response Program in partnership with RGOB under the project name “Nature for all: an inclusive nature garden for people with disability.” Thus, the accessible footpath serves as a stepping stone in bringing people with disability, one step closer to nature while improving the general accessibility of the garden. The UN Assistant Secretary General and the Resident Representative, UNDP Bhutan visited the Interpretation Centre and interacted with the Zhenphen group (A group of youth with disability) and Kuen pel Group who also displayed musical performances for the event.
