Category: Biodiversity News

The stakeholder consultation workshop for the revision of National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) was held for the western region from 17^th to 18^th October 2013 at the National Biodiversity Centre, Serbithang. This is first of the series of consultation workshops that will be held throughout the country.

About 35 participants representing livestock, agriculture, forestry sector and environment from the western dzongkhags of Haa, Paro, Punakha, Wangdue Phodrang, Thimphu, Gasa and Chukha and Forests Division Office of Thimphu, Paro and Wangdue participated in the workshop.

This consultation workshop was organized with the objective to gather and discuss ground issues, challenges and priorities to be incorporated into the national document. It was also with the aim to formulate a NBSAP that will be practical, realistic and implementable by all concerned stakeholder agencies.

National Biodiversity Strategy and Action plan (NBSAP), commonly known as Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) in Bhutan, is a strategic document which provide framework of action to enhance and ensure the productivity, diversity and integrity of biodiversity and natural systems. It is also one of the instruments to implement the objectives of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), to which Bhutan became a party in 1995.

The first Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP I) was formulated in 1998 and since then, in order to address the changing needs and priorities, as well as to monitor the progress made, the BAP was revised twice, in 2002 (BAP II) and 2009 (BAP III).

The current revision of NBSAP/BAP is undertaken to address the gaps in conservation, sustainable use and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of biodiversity, bearing in mind the emerging needs and challenges that the country faces. It is also in line with the global effort to achieve the 2020 Global Biodiversity Targets, which were adopted in 2010 by the 10^th Conference of the Parties, after the world at large failed to meet the 2010 Targets.

Starting from 17^th of October 2013, a two days stakeholder consultation workshop for western region on the revision of NBSAP is under way at National Biodiversity Centre, Serbithang. This is the first of the regional consultation series planned for the revision of NBSAP.

The National Biodiversity Centre is hosting a three day Program Management Committee (PMC) Meeting for the On-farm Conservation Program at the Namgay Heritage Hotel from 8^th October to 10^th October 2013. The On-farm conservation Project titled “Biodiversity use and Conservation in Asia Program (BUCAP)” is supported through the South East Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment (SEARICE) based in the Philippines. It is implemented in six countries namely the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Bhutan. Eighteen participants from the project implementing countries are taking part in the meeting.

The project focus is on the conservation, development and sustainable use of our crop genetic resources in the region. In view of the fact that conservation and sustainable utilization of crop genetic resources is a collective responsibility of all the nations in the region, SEARICE is committed to strengthen cooperation among the nations in the region and enhance the institutional linkages to support on-farm conservation programs.

Throughout the implementation of this project for the last three phases spanning a decade in the country, the project has greatly benefited farmers through capacity building in seed selection and yield improvement, value addition and access to market, and enabling farmers’ access to adapted varieties. It has also provided support for the capacity-building of research and extension collaborators, and project staff through trainings, workshops/ seminars and study visits.

Further, the project has played a vital role in strengthening institutional linkages between relevant institutions involved in on-farm conservation and sustainable utilization activities at national as well as regional and global forums.

The current meeting is organized to assess the project activities and accomplishments in the six countries and also to share lessons and outcomes of the project as well as to deliberate on the way forward.

The National Biodiversity Centre (NBC) is organizing the Training of Trainers on Participatory Plant Breeding from 30^th September to 5^th October 2013 at Paro for the on-farm conservation stakeholders from across the country. 21 participants comprising from Renewable Natural Resources Research and Development Centres (RNR RDC), extension officials from the on-farm conservation sites and members from NBC are taking part in the training program. The training is provided by Dr. Salvatore Cecarelli, a scientist from the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). The training is supported through Biodiversity Use and Conservation in Asia Program Project supported by South East Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment (SEARICE) and International Treaty on Plant Genetic for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA).

These projects are coordinated and implemented in collaborations with the Regional RNR RDCs and Dzongkhag Agricultural Sectors of the Project sites. Both the projects focus on the conservation, development and sustainable use of our crop genetic diversity.

Our country is known for its rich biodiversity and is considered as one of the ten biological hotspots in the world. Crop genetic resources are one of the components of biodiversity and are part of nation’s heritage which has been conserved and sustainably used and passed down from one generation to the next. It is fundamental raw material for crop improvement through farmers’ selection, classical plant breeding or modern biotechnology. These resources are the potential source of genetic raw materials for adapting to unpredictable environment changes.

However, the rate of cultivation of our traditional crop diversity is found to be on decline due to various reasons. As a response to this challenge, the National Biodiversity is making efforts to conserve and make sustainable use of these resources both ex situ (genebank) and in situ (on-farm). The participatory plant breeding is one of the methods for on-farm conservation and promotes use of local crop diversity. It attempts to develop crops and varieties that are better adapted to farmer’s local environmental conditions. The activities are carried out with the active involvement of farmers along with research scientists and extensions.

This training is expected to build the capacity of the stakeholders to carry out the participatory plant breeding and upscale the Participatory variety selection in their localities. This would enable them conserve and make sustainable use of our traditional crop varieties and strengthen the conservation program in Bhutan.

The training is in line to the mandates of the centre to coordinate and implement biodiversity conservation and sustainable use programs.