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RNRNEWSLETTERA monthly publication of the Ministry of Agriculture & Forests

Vol. IV Issue No. 1 www.moaf.gov.bt July 2016

INSID

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Feeding wild animals, definitely not

Pg 4

Global Tiger Day: message from the Minister

Pg 5

Solar Electric Fencing: The much awaited dreams turning into reality

CBPP Programme in Tshangkha, Over many decades, the farmers at Nangar village under Tsamang Geog in Mongar has been victim of the loss of crops to wild animals besides putting strong efforts to grow crops in their agricultural land. Their hope of harvesting crops goes in vain when wild pigs and monkey deprives their hard works. The much awaited dreams of these farmers to have solar electric

fence installed on their land have turned into reality for saving crops from depredation by the wild animals. The 4.3Km long Solar Electric Fencing was inaugurated on 25th July 2016 by the Chief Forest Officer of Phrumsengla National Park who was the Chief Guest for the day. The electric fence is going to benefit eight households of Nangar village who are dependent on agricultural farming

and rearing of livestock for their livelihoods. During the inauguration, Bylaw of the Solar Electric fencing was handed over to the Chairman of the Nangar Solar Electric Fencing Group in presence of park officials and the members of Nangar Solar

Jangchuk Gyeltshen, Park Range Officer, CPRO, PNP

Solar Electric Fencing at Nangar village in Mongar

Cont.. on Pg 2

July 20162 NEWSLETTERRNRCont.. from Pg 1

Solar Electric Fencing: The much awaited dreams turning into reality

Electric Fencing Group. The Chief Guest expressed his satisfaction over the well done job by the farmers and mentioned that this is

how one should make better use of the resources provided by the government. He further advised farmers to manage solar electric

fencing properly so as to reap their hard work that they have put in.The Chairman of the Solar Electric Fencing Group in his address during the inauguration said, “Installation of solar electric fencing around their village has benefited a lot. Forget about the fear of losing crops to wild animals even domestic animals are scared of solar electric fence”. The solar electric fence was installed with financial support from World Bank project titled “strengthening Regional Cooperation in Wildlife Protection in Asia through Wildlife Conservation Division, Department of Forests and Park Services. The entire work supervision and technical support for the installation of solar electric fencing was provided by the Central Park Range Office under Phrumsengla National Park based at Lingmethang, Mongar.

Inaugurating with the farmers of Nangar village

NotificationThe Bhutan Agriculture & Food Regulatory Authority under the Ministry of Agriculture & Forests has been carrying out regular surveillance of pesticide contents in fruits & vegetables through the use of field test kits & laboratory testing to ensure food safety in Bhutan.

Following the positive test result confirmed through laboratory testing for one variety of imported chilli during the month of May 2016, all varieties of imported chillies that were available in the market were screened for pesticide residues. Three imported chillies namely Hybrid, Terasani & Akashi were sent to Export Inspection Agency laboratory, India for Laboratory testing. The samples were tested against the four Major Groups of Pesticides.

As per the Laboratory report, all three imported chilli varieties showed the presence of 4 –Bromo-2-Cholorophenol, a pesticide belonging to Organochorine Group. According to the WHO Classification of Pesticides, 4- Bromo-2-Cholorophenol is considered to be moderately toxic (WHO Class II) and its use is not permitted in Bhutan.

Therefore, the Bhutan Agriculture & Food Regulatory Authority under the Ministry of Agriculture & Forests would like to notify the general public that a temporary ban on all imported chillies is being put in place with immediate effect.

The Regulatory and Quarantine Inspectors of BAFRA in all the 20 Dzongkhags will strictly monitor the implementation of this temporary ban.

This is being issued in the interest of public health & safety and therefore all concerned are requested to give their full cooperation in implementing this ban.

-BAFRA

July 2016 3NEWSLETTERRNR

SAP competitionSAP would like to invite relevant and interesting topics both for literary and poster competition for 2016. Hence, all interested people may suggest us the topics relevant to RNR sector at raibb@yahoo.com.

The selected topics for the competition will be acknowledged with appreciation. The submission of proposed topics may be done on or before 8th August 2016 for seeking approval from the Ministry.

SAP

LeisureSudoku Puzzle

Fill in the grid with digits in such a manner that every row, every column and every 3x3 box accommodates the digits 1-9, without repeating any.

Answer in the next issue

Last week's solution

Submit articles for RNR-Newsletter, June2016

totyangzom@moaf.gov.bt

OR tandindorji@moaf.gov.bt

RNR SAPA and State of Climate Change Report 2016

available onlineVisit:

www.moaf.gov.bt

July 20164 NEWSLETTERRNR

Ugyen Tshering, ICS

Cont.. on Pg 6

You are not doing any favour feeding wild animals, definitely not

Truth straightforward, you are doing more harm to wild animals than favour by feeding them. Against the popular believe that you’re helping wild animals by throwing a morsel at the starving wild animals and gain merit, the truth is you’re doing exactly the opposite. You’re cutting short their life because starving wild animals will be compelled to find their own natural food and live to see another day rather than by making them dependent on what we’re feeding them. You cannot be more incorrect. So, it is better to refrain from doing so. As one drive along the highway, we often come across pack of monkeys waiting by the roadside. Actually, at this time of the day, these monkeys should be jumping from tree to tree, deep in the forest, searching for food. They must be on the tree top, plucking fruits and munching them. But instead, they prefer to stay by the roadside and wait. They scrutinize very vehicle that whiz by. As expected, a car stops

and soon after, they rush towards the car. The commuters throw whatever food they have in the car which majority includes junk food. The monkeys pounce on every food thrown and consume them.While the travelers enjoy looking at monkeys up close, a fierce fight ensues among the monkeys competing for food. The weaker one sustains a nasty bite on the hand and it is handicapped. That day, not many travelers stopped to throw them food hence many didn’t get their fill. Soon, the people in the car ran out of food and when throwing stop, monkeys attempt to even enter the car and snatch whatever is edible. However, the feeding proved fatal for one monkey. Every time food was thrown, every monkey tries to be the first one to grab. During the chaos, one monkey totally missed the on-coming traffic and collided head on with the car. The brute force of the machine sends the monkey flying several feet and land hard on

the tarmac. Even if it stood a chance to survive by hit, it could have been left injured for life and die slowly. For this one, it was a instant death with shattered skull. Trying to get food, the monkey becomes food for other animals that feeds on its carcass. In trying to avert the mishap, driver tries to bring his car to halt with screening brake. This nearly sent the car toppling down the slope. All because of feeding the monkeys, all this problems cropped up. In addition to monkey fatality, it could have even claimed human life. Hence, feeding wild animals isn’t correct from any perspective. A human feeding wild animal is very detrimental. This is because it takes a lot more than what we fathom of wild animals surviving in the wilderness. It takes them lot of learning, gaining experiences and experimenting. Hence, natural foraging is a lifelong skill for them that will help see through their

Brown Civet and Assamese macaque: a victim of wildlife feeding

July 2016 5NEWSLETTERRNR

Every year 29th July is celebrated as Global Tiger Day to promote public awareness and garner support for tiger conservation works at the global and local level. The day was adopted in 2010 at the St. Petersburg Tiger Summit in Russia in response to the rapid decline of tiger population.Tigers are an integral part of religious and socio-cultural heritage in Asia besides being at the top of the ecosystem and are truly the King of Forests. In spite of being such a significant creature, tigers are now restricted to only 13 countries from its previous range of whole of Asia. Tiger population in the wild declined from more than 100,000 at the dawn of the century to less than 3900 individuals today .The good news is, for the first time in the history of tiger conservation, tiger numbers have increased from the initial estimate of 3200 to 3890 individuals across the range countries. The recent national tiger survey confirmed that Bhutan has 103 adult tigers with records of five breeding sources across the country. The increase in tiger population in Bhutan and elsewhere is the outcome of intensive effort put in by the government of all range countries and the conservation partners around the globe.This year is a halfway point to the St. Petersburg declaration of doubling the tiger numbers by the year 2022. As tigers are classified as endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, our task remains incomplete until we stop the loss of tiger habitats and the poaching of tigers and its prey species for the illegal wildlife trade.As one of the tiger range countries, Bhutan continues to play a very significant role in the long term survival of this majestic species. We are tasked with the responsibility of ensuring the survival and persistence of this important majestic species. If we fail to shoulder this responsibility, it is equivalent to breaching the trust entrusted upon us by our future generations. We carry this immense responsibility of ensuring that this magnificent creature continues to survive, thrive and persist.I congratulate the Department of Forests and Park Services and the conservation partners around the globe for their relentless efforts and outstanding achievements in ensuring the long term survival of this magnificent species in Bhutan and beyond.

Global Tiger Day :Message from Hon’ble Lyonpo

July 20166 NEWSLETTERRNR

If undelivered please return to:

Information and Communication Services (ICS)Ministry of Agriculture and Forests Post Box: 1095, Thimphu-BhutanTel(PABX): 02-323765/321142/322855Fax: 02-324520Email: ics@moaf.gov.btWebsite: www.moaf.gov.bt

whole lifespan. People feeding them will make them accustomed to our food and loose natural foraging skills while younger one will never acquire. Hence, a moment people stop feeding them, they will starve to death atop a tree full of fruits. In addition, the diet of human and animals differs a lot. The food we feed them can be often not upto the nutritional requirements of animal’s body. Our foods are often known to cause serious health problems to them. For instance, animals are more into green food such as leaves, roots, and fruits. They would have never tasted junk or industrial food we feed. Such food cause them more problems. They are compelled to consume what we feed since animals are by nature an opportunistic and jump at any convenient source of food. Food availability is directly proportional to the reproduction rate of many animals. More the foods, higher the reproduction rate. When we artificially make food readily available to them, animals were known to reproduce quite a lot. This can cause over-crowding and competition becomes fierce. They may attack or even kill each other fighting for the food we feed them. The natural balance will also get disrupted. In the worst case, when the food supply stops abruptly, it will lead to mass death of the animals. We can never be sure of what

diseases animals carry. Monkeys are known for rabies. So, when you get close and touch them or when they accidently bite you, the diseases can get transmitted. Hence, it is always better you maintain some distance with the wild animals or if the best be, left on their own. In other parts of the world, feeding of wild animals has been known to attract them more towards human settlements than to the jungle. This is because they perceive that it is easier to get access to food in the towns and villages than in the forests. Soon, animals have been known to raid houses with and without the occupants. They can often cause lots of damages to properties and in some cases even attacking people who try to shoo them away. The habit of people feeding the wild animals especially along the national highways has become a recent trend. It is not uncommon to see a pack of Assamese macaque monkeys, langaurs and for that matter even other wild animal species waiting by the highway for the prospective commuters who stop to feed them. People feed these animals because they enjoy having a closer contact with them. The animals, on the other hand, prefer to wait by the roadside like a beggar deviating from its natural instinct of combing the forest for natural foods. Then slowly, it gets pretty nasty. Animals become bold and lose fear of human being

that they go even to the extent that they bite the own hands that feed them. This is because when you feed them with your hand; animals don’t know where they food ends and your fingers begin. Hence, they can keep on biting along your fingers. If not, they come under the wheel and get killed. So, are you really doing favour feeding them? Wildlife by their natural instinct shy away from human beings but when we disturb their natural feeding pattern, they go astray. Wild animals, from the time immemorial, have survived on their own without us feeding them artificially. And even now and henceforth, they can do way better on their own, without requiring our help. Department of Forest and Park Services have been doing everything to discourage people from feeding wild animals. The advisory and cautionary signboards have been erected in places where human feeding animals have been reported rampant, especially along the highways. Awareness programs were conducted, one being through the mass media such as print and broadcast outlining the disadvantages of feeding wild animals. People have been informed, educated and cautioned adequately. Yet the feeding continues. Hence, it is sincerely hoped that people will refrain from feeding wild animals since, you’re doing it more harm than good.

Cont.. from Pg 4

You are not doing any favour feeding wild animals, definitely not