The country will soon have a national biodiversity database, using a new tool called environmental DNA or eDNA. This method can identify different animal species in an area by testing DNA traces found in water samples. This will help map where species live and how rich the biodiversity is. To prepare for this, 24 forest officials from across the country attended a one-day training to learn how to use the equipment and collect water samples.
Today, biodiversity monitoring in the country mostly relies on camera traps and field surveys, which are physically demanding and are not always effective.
However, with the new eDNA technology, the process is much simpler. Officials only need to collect water samples using proper sampling equipment.
After the training, participants said the new method was easier and more convenient than the current approach.
“What I observed is that it won’t be tedious, as tedious as it used to be using camera traps. So, for example, the frequency of work also gets reduced. The installation of camera trap, it takes a lot of time. So, after you reach the point, you have to carry your own stuff and take all your luggage together. So, it will take very less time and it would be less hectic compared to what we do with camera traps,” said Tshering Peldon, Forest Officer, Forests and Park Services Department, Samtse.
“Rangers are like taking a lot of effort in monitoring the biodiversity often they have to cross high mountain peak and the they have to cross very big rivers for monitoring of different biodiversity for different purposes. So, with the use of environmental DNA, we can get information about biodiversity of that area by collecting a single sample from one small stream or one major river system,” said Lungten Dorji (PhD), Senior Forest Officer, Department of Forests and Park Services, MoENR.
The eDNA sampling process uses a water pump, tube, capsule and battery to collect samples efficiently. After collecting the sample in the capsule, a special liquid is added to preserve the eDNA. The samples are sent to the laboratory at the College of Natural Resources for analysis.
For sequencing, the samples are sent to Switzerland. Sequencing is the process of identifying which animal species are present in the sample.
“Since 2022, we have been doing a pilot study with the eDNA, and we have found it very effective in studying the mammals and the fish of Bhutan. So, we are giving them the sampling points at their stations, and they will be collecting the eDNA samples across the country,” said Karma Sherub, Lecturer, College of Natural Resources, Punakha.
“Because of the sampling strategy that we are using, which is based on streams and rivers, those streams and rivers catch the diversity that lives in the entire catchments that are drained by the river system. Because of that, because of the conveyor effects of these river system we are reaching areas that otherwise are very complicated to reach with camera traps or the traditional methods,” said Arnaud LYET, WWF.
The trained forest officials will now be deployed across the country to collect water samples and generate data for the national biodiversity database.
The training was conducted by the Department of Forests and Park Services, with WWF Bhutan, WWF-US, ETH Zurich in Switzerland, and the College of Natural Resources, with funding from the Bhutan Trust Fund.
Changa Dorji, Wangdue Phodrang
Edited by Sonam Pem
