8th
October
2009
Atmos Ecologist aids Quest to Maintain Bhutan's Biodiversity
A respected British ecologist has returned from Bhutan and has warned that if Bhutanese efforts at conservation are not supported, dozens of species will become extinct before they are even discovered.
Mike Jordan, an ecologist with Atmos Consulting, spent 10 days in Lobessa, a small village in the forests of Bhutan, training 30 government forest officers in conservation techniques, so that the country can begin to map and survey its animal populations. Mr Jordan delivered workshops in the field, with the focus on training forest officers in how to trap, handle, identify and monitor the country's bats, mice, rats and flying squirrels.
Mr Jordan explained that there are many reasons for the current threat to the biodiversity of the country, including; the size of Bhutan, combined with its lack of trained conservation professionals, the absence of NGOs which are so common in the UK, and a preoccupation with large mammals.
Mr Jordan commented: "Bhutan is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world and it is essential that its government continues the training of conservationists that we began with our visit this month.
"Bhutan is a country twice the size of Wales with a population of 600,000 people. In some ways they are well ahead of us in conservation – over 40% of the country is national park, and there are stringent measures to protect the country's forests.
"However in Bhutan, and in fact in most countries in that region, the focus has been on the conservation of pandas, elephants and tigers and very little has been done to monitor the falling populations of smaller mammals like bats, rats and squirrels, many of which face a similar threat of extinction. At the moment, we know that Bhutan has 200 species of mammal, over 100 of which are these small mammals. One example of the biodiversity of the country is that it has 60 known species of bats – compared to 14 in the UK.
"Unlike the UK, due to the small size of the country and its political history, the government is fully responsible for monitoring biodiversity. There are no organisations like the RSPB, for example, to warn when a certain species is at risk, or to dedicate its time to finding and surveying new species.
"Biodiversity loss is a massive issue throughout the globe, but you can't conserve what you don't know exists yet. There is no doubt that some species will become extinct before we even discover them. That's why delivering conservation training in countries such as Bhutan is crucial."
Mike Jordan is just one of Atmos Consulting's environmental and renewables experts, who are based throughout the UK. Atmos Consulting encourages its expert ecologists and ornithologists to continue working in global projects to ensure expert-level knowledge in the UK renewables industry and also to ensure corporate social responsibility obligations are met.
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