Ceriogrion fallax cerinomelas mating pair at Sopsokha pond.

There is very scanty study of dragonfly diversity in Bhutan. The two studies done until recently were both in Eastern Bhutan. Therefore, there is acute need to be done in Western Bhutan. The project will be carried out in Punakha district, Western Bhutan and specifically will be carried out within the catchment area of Toebay Rongchhu stream. It encompasses two gewogs (blocks), viz., Toebisa at the north western part that contains headwaters of Toebay Rongchhu stream, and Bapisa gewog at the lower reaches of the stream. The Toebisa block includes Eastern part of Royal Botanical Park with it’s headquarter at Lamperi.

The project will fill up the gap of much needed baseline data on dragonfly diversity within Bhutan and especially in Western Bhutan. The project will record for the first time adult dragonfly species diversity in Western Bhutan. Therefore, scientifically and officially all the dragonflies recorded will be new record from western Bhutan at recent times. The project will also for the first time record dragonfly larval diversity within the aquatic habitats in the project area.

The conservation threats posed by recent developments within the project area will be recorded for the first time. Also it will study the habitat diversity for the first time in Bhutan.

The information gathered will be shared with the students in the schools within project area. Besides, the specimens of both larva and adult dragonflies will be preserved in the College of Natural Resources for future reference for the researchers, other interested individuals, and more specifically for the students and members of teaching faculty in the college. The information sharing will be also done using information centre located at Royal Botanical Park’s headquarter, which is attracting good number of visitors during weekends and festival times at recent times from Thimphu, Punakha and Wangduephodrag districts.