International Biodiversity Day Celebrated

This year the theme of the International Day for Biological Diversity  (IDB) is “We’re part of the solution”. The theme has been chosen as a continuation of the momentum generated last year under the theme, “Our solutions are in nature”, which served as a reminder that biodiversity remains the answer to several sustainable development challenges and that we should be part of the solution.

The National Environment Commission Secretariat (NECS) as the focal agency to the Convention on Biological Diversity  (CBD) commemorated the IBD 2021 on the eve during the launch of the Bhutan Climate Dialogue Series to join forces with climate change actions as it has been proven that climate change and biodiversity are inextricably linked.

Given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the event was also given a virtual platform.  During the event, Hon'ble Chief Guest, His Excellency Lyonpo Tandin Dorji; Chair of NEC launched the Bhutan Biodiversity User List and its Online System. The objective of this Biodiversity User List was to collate all the available information on the country’s important and protected biodiversity to enhance service delivery and to raise awareness and compliance. The list will provide the regulating agencies easy access to a concerted list for monitoring and evaluation purposes. Further, the document also compiled the national notified/released varieties of crops and fodder, and permitted ornamental plants. It also provides a list of the native and indigenous livestock species to highlight the importance of conserving the native species.