Three Days Training On Invasive Alien Plant Species (IAPs) Identification, Management and Mapping

Three days training on Invasive Alien Plant Species (IAPs) Identification, Management and Mapping was conducted at Tarayana Conference Hall in Thimphu from 3rd to 5th November, 2021. The training was aimed at equipping the Programme and Field Officers with knowledge and skills in identifying Invasive Alien Plants, managing them, and spatially mapping the distribution in the Southwestern region of the country.

The first half day of the training covered on basic mapping of the IAPs using ArcGIS, for example, the IAPs cover percent, dominant species within given Gewogs, frequency of IAPs occurrence etc. On the second day, some commonly known IAPs were modelled using the Maximum Entropy based model called MaxEnt for spatial prediction of invasion. Participants learnt how to use IAPs occurrence data and climatic/environmental data for model calibration, and model output interpretation. On the third day, participants were introduced to techniques of identifying IAPs using dichotomous artificial/taxonomic keys and online applications (software) such as PlantNet and iNaturalist. Some fundamental methods were also highlighted on managing the IAPs from prevention to control, such as manual, mechanistic, biological and chemical techniques. The socioeconomic assessment approaches, used to gather farmers’ perception on the IAPs invasion, traditional methods of managing and the impacts of the IAPs were also introduced.