in Sri Lanka - Ministry of Environment

Area of focusResponsibleInstitution/sTechnical supportTime FrameDevelop a research agenda forbiodiversity related workAward research contracts toimplement the research agendaDevelop guidelines for astandard, methodologicalapproach for conductingbiodiversity-related researchConduct a series of workshops tocreate awareness about researchgaps as well as use of standardmethods for data collectionConduct a series of workshops todevelop capacity for research onlower taxaBDS, NSF, DWC, FD NASCAG June 2013NSF, DWC, FD NASCAG December 2013NSF, BDS NASCAG June 2013NSF, BDS NASCAG August 2013BDS and NSF NASCAG December 2013Initiate baseline biodiversityNSF, DWC, FD NASCAG January 2014surveys in selected sitesBDS - Biodiversity Secretariat, NASCAG - National Species Conservation Advisory Group, DWC - Department ofWildlife Conservation, FD - Forest Department, CEA - Central Environment Agency, NGO - Non GovernmentalAgencies7. Assess status of infra-species variations for useful speciesEven though the species is considered as the unit of conservation, there are number of taxathat show much infra species variation. In such cases, it may be prudent to plan conservationaction at an infra species level in order to ensure conservation of genetic diversity. Therefore,an attempt should be made to document the diversity below the species level, especially foragro-biodiversity, given that that several indigenous crops and livestock varieties and their wildrelatives have lost their genetic variability in the recent past.Area of focusResponsibleInstitution/sTechnical supportTime FramePrepare checklists of cropvarieties and their wild relativesthat should be conservedDepartment ofAgricultureCrop Wild Relatives Project June 2013Prepare checklists of livestockvarieties and their wild relativesthat should be conservedDepartment of Livestock Indigenous Livestock Project June 2013Identify indigenous species thatshow appreciable infra speciesvariabilityBDSIndividual experts on suchtaxaDecember 2013Identify a set of actions neededto conserve such infra speciesvariationBDSIndividual experts on suchtaxaDecember 2013BDS - Biodiversity Secretariat351