Capacity Building Workshop on Biodiversity Baseline Assessment – Tools & Techniques
Gangtok, December 3, 2024: Forest and Environment Department, Government of Sikkim organized a two-day workshop titled “Capacity Building Workshop on Biodiversity Baseline Assessment – Tools & Techniques” in collaboration with Asian Development Bank during December 2-3 at Forest Department Office, Gangtok.
The workshop was organized to further build capacities of officials of forest, environment, wildlife, road and building departments, and researchers responsible for carrying out surveys and managing environmental projects. The workshop mainly focused on current best practices and techniques to collect, analyze, and make decision based on biodiversity data. Participants also gained an understanding of modern tools and practical knowledge including open-source data collection, GIS, and remote sensing analysis.
During the inaugural ceremony, Dr. D. Manjunatha, IFS, CCF(WL/T/HQ)-cum-CWLW, Forest and Environment Department, Sikkim welcomed the ADB biodiversity consultants and the participants to the workshop. Dr. Pradeep Kumar, IFS, PCCF-cum- Secretary, Forest and Environment Department, Sikkim formally inaugurated the workshop and stressed on the need to build capacity to effectively address the challenges of conserving biodiversity in Sikkim.
ADB International Biodiversity Consultant, Dr. Vinod B Mathur, Former Chairperson, National Biodiversity Authority of India and Former Director of Wildlife Institute of India provided a detailed overview of the workshop objectives and explained the concepts of Biodiversity Baseline Assessment, Critical Habitat Analysis and Biodiversity Action Plan in the context of Linear Infrastructure Developments.
In the post-lunch session, Mr. Benjamin P Dorsey, ADB International GIS Consultant talked about Data collection and management using camera traps and mobile forms such as Kobo Collect and Survey 123. During the session, he explained about organizing data from camera traps, including location selection and deployment followed by a mock camera trap training session for the participants at the premises of Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, Gangtok. Shri. Udai Gurung, IFS, Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) highlighted the need for harmonizing conservation concerns with development imperatives.
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Mr Anjay Kumar, Environmental Specialist, Ramboll International Agency, New Delhi talked about Environmental Management: Challenges Way Ahead in the Context of Linear Infrastructure Development in Sikkim. During the technical session, Mr. Benjamin Dorsey explained the GIS tools to manage biodiversity data sets and conduct analysis and building data collection forms using Kobo toolbox.
This workshop brought together over 60 experts, and researchers to build knowledge to enhance and support the Government of Sikkim environmental safeguard systems by providing capacity building in the form of tools, training, and other support to relevant institutions, agencies, and personnel.