𝗗𝗔𝗬 𝗢𝗡𝗘: 𝗦𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Today, the first session of the workshop kicked off with an introduction to the ‘𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗘𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲-𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀’ with focused in building capacity of participants to leverage technologies and techniques in monitoring the species.

Prior to this, participants were familiarized on the new project activities to be implemented in the eastern Bhutan. As indicated in the Theory of Change, the project’s main goal is to create thriving population of White-bellied Heron in eastern Bhutan through integrated conservation approaches. The outputs outlined includes

Research and Knowledge generation

Threat Mitigation and Livelihood Diversification

Community Engagement and Capacity Development, and

Policy and Institutional Support.

In addition to safeguarding the White-bellied Heron, the project will also prioritize the conservation of associated species such as Otters, terrestrial birds, and waterbirds within the heron’s landscape in Eastern Bhutan. There are also provision to support community’s livelihoods and improving overall health of riverine ecosystem using Nature-based Solutions (NbS) as the core approach.

During the initial phase, the project will emphasize baseline data collection (species presence, threats, socio-economic and climate vulnerabilities) and awareness programs for communities and relevant stakeholders. Moving forward, the project will implement targeted conservation interventions to ensure the long-term protection of this rare species, benefits to communities and maintaining the rich riverine ecosystem.