UNESCO strengthens community-led biodiversity monitoring in Kanchenjunga

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Nov. 5: A two-day workshop on the Kunming Biodiversity Fund (KBF) Project, focused on community engagement for Biodiversity Conservation in the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area, has concluded in Phungling. 

The workshop marks the final stage of the eight-month-long initiative, which successfully leveraged modern technology and indigenous knowledge in safeguarding the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area (KCA), a vital biodiversity hotspot home to endangered species like the snow leopard and red panda, said a press statement issued by UNESCO on Monday.

The project, implemented by UNESCO in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature Nepal (IUCN) in collaboration with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC), the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area Management Council (KCAMC), and Samriddha Pahad, focused on empowering local stakeholders. 

A central achievement of the project was the successful integration of modern scientific monitoring tools with the expertise of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs). This included the installation of trail cameras and GPS devices in July 2025 to establish a community-led biodiversity monitoring system, it said.

Before the installation, capacity-building workshops were organised in Phungling, providing hands-on training to local communities, including women’s groups, IPLCs and learners, on how to handle and set up these scientific tools for real-time ecological monitoring. 

These efforts have been instrumental in identifying biodiversity hotspots and collecting crucial data of the existing species’ presence and patterns, read the statement.