Despite being rich in biodiversity, Bhutan has little or no information on plants and insects that play an essential role in supporting and strengthening the ecosystems. Apart from their names, the information of their distribution, habitat, use and roles are limited. According to the UN Biodiversity Report 2019, more than 40 per cent of the insect species are declining and the rapid loss of plant species is undermining the future.
Lack of financial resources and diverse habitats contributed to the poor documentation of plants and insects in the country. Choki Gyeltshen, a Senior Biodiversity Officer at the National Biodiversity Centre says this knowledge gap on the diversity of plants and insects hampered conservation efforts in the country.
“We don’t know the exact number of species existing in our country. And then there are chances that we haven’t even discovered a species and they are extinct. So we have to document all the biodiversity species. And if without knowing the existence or without documenting the species around us, it’s very difficult for us to conserve,” he said.
He added besides there is a need to focus more on research and studies to explore the country’s rich biodiversity:
“We really need a lab facility where we can conduct thorough research especially coming to molecular DNA analysis. So right now we are thoroughly depending on other countries for DNA analysis. For example, to identify species new to science, we need to really do the DNA analysis to have this hundred per cent accuracy. So we have to depend on other countries and it is very expensive for us. To send a few samples to the Netherlands or Korea, it costs around USD 5,000.”
Biodiversity plays an important role in enhancing food security, economic development and providing ecosystem services such as clean air and water. According to the Centre, climate change is increasing the risk of extinction of most plant and insect species even before being discovered.
“The first thing is invasive species invading our native biodiversity such as plants, animals and insects and invertebrates which includes biodiversity. Invasive species are also invading all our forest especially in the south and we don’t really know the source of the invasive species but we doubt it’s from the porous international border. And another thing is the invasive species also invade not only the forest but also the agricultural land which also threatens the food security of our country,” he added.
As per the Biodiversity Statistics of Bhutan 2017, there are more than 11,000 species of flora and fauna across the country.
Sonam Pem
