July 24-28, Thimphu: The Watershed Management Division, Department of Forests and Park Services (DoFPS) is conducting a five days National Training for Wetland Managers in collaboration with the Ramsar Regional Center- East Asia (RRC-EA) based in Republic of Korea. The participants include officials from all the Forest Territorial Divisions and Protected Areas.

Wetlands constitute of water ecosystems that include lakes, marshes, vernal pools, peat bogs, fens, rivers & streams. Wetlands provide fundamental ecosystem services, such as water regulation, filtering and purification, as well as numerous scientific, cultural and recreational values within the watersheds. Wetlands are important for the maintenance of the broader ecosystem health.

Mr. Phento Tshering, Honorable Director of the Department of Forests and Park Services, informed the floor that it is an opportune time for the field staffs to share and learn experiences in wetland management in Bhutan and other parts of the world. He also informed that recognising the importance of wetlands management, Bhutan became the contracting party to the Ramsar Convention on 7^th September, 2012 to work together for the conservation & wise use of wetlands and their resources and to avail opportunities for capacity development in wetlands management.

Bhutan has three designated Ramsar sites as wetlands of International importance with surface area of 1225 ha. The Ramsar sites are Bumdeling Ramsar site (141.5 Ha), Khotokha (113.5Ha) and Gangtey-Phobji Ramsar site (970 Ha). These Ramsar sites are an important habitat for the globally threatened Black Necked crane (Grus nigricollis).

In the past, strong cultural and traditional ethos among the Bhutanese and lack of modern development technology had protected the wetlands. Today, the challenges are different and it has become an endangered ecosystem, especially in urban areas.

Mr. Suh Seung Oh, Executive Director of RRC-EA stated that wetland managers, are warriors standing at the front line in order to make the changes by leading conservation and wise use of wetlands. He stated that it was important to communicate, share information, experiences and knowledge to be more effective, to discuss further solutions to stop the loss of wetlands and to reach out to general public to make them understand and join this invaluable conservation work.

As a wetland management measures, wetland program was initiated under the Watershed Management Division, DoFPS. Since then the regulations for wise use of wetlands have been established and the Department will focus on the inventory and mapping of different types of wetlands in the country for the 12^th FYP.

Reported by Tashi Yangzom with photo by Choidup Zangpo, ICS

BAFRA	155
DAMC	2009
DoFPS	211
RDC Jakar, DoL	205
RDC Wengkhar	204
NCAH, DoL	124

Author Archives: keshavg

Recent post