Capacity Building and Regional Training Programs

Building local and regional expertise in DNA barcoding and metabarcoding is vital for sustainable biodiversity conservation. Supported by BBI-CBD funding, our training programs target conservation practitioners from Lebanon, Tunisia, Côte d'Ivoire, and Jordan, including those without prior molecular biology experience. These hands-on workshops cover sample collection, laboratory techniques, data analysis, and interpretation, empowering participants to independently apply molecular tools in their contexts. Capacity building democratizes access to innovative technologies, fosters regional collaboration, and ensures continuity beyond the project lifecycle.

Funding from BBI-CBD and institutional backing by Saint Joseph University enabled program development. Experienced trainers and tailored curricula accommodate diverse backgrounds. Regional participant selection promotes cross-country knowledge exchange. Ongoing support and follow-up strengthen learning outcomes.

We learned that successful capacity building requires flexible training models that accommodate participants’ varied expertise. Hands-on practice combined with theoretical knowledge improves retention. Establishing a regional network fosters peer learning and collaboration. Follow-up support and refresher sessions are important for sustained impact. Training must be paired with accessible resources and tools to enable real-world application. Engaging trainees as future trainers multiplies benefits and contributes to national and regional self-sufficiency in biodiversity monitoring.

Stakeholder Engagement and Knowledge Mobilization

Meaningful engagement with Lebanese Ministries of Environment and Agriculture, local NGOs, practitioners, and communities ensured that scientific insights informed policy and restoration practices. By communicating findings clearly and collaboratively, we helped integrate molecular data into the National Biodiversity Action Plan. Awareness campaigns targeted schools, universities, farmers, and land managers, raising understanding of the ecological roles animals play in forest regeneration. This knowledge mobilization builds local ownership, promotes evidence-based decision-making, and bridges science with societal needs for long-term ecosystem resilience.

Strong relationships with government agencies and NGOs fostered trust. Clear, accessible communication materials and workshops facilitated understanding. Involvement of local communities ensured relevance. Institutional support allowed integration into national plans. Funding enabled outreach and awareness activities.

Effective stakeholder engagement requires ongoing dialogue and tailored communication strategies to diverse audiences. We found that combining scientific rigor with accessible language bridges the science-policy-practice gap. Early inclusion of ministries and NGOs increases uptake of results. Awareness campaigns are essential to foster behavioral change and highlight the often-overlooked role of animals in ecosystem restoration. Sustained collaboration ensures findings influence policy and land management decisions. We also learned that participatory approaches empower communities, ensuring solutions are socially accepted and sustainable

Strategic International and Academic Partnerships

Partnerships with the Smithsonian Institution, iBOL, and Saint Joseph University have been central to our project’s success. The Smithsonian provided advanced expertise in metabarcoding methodology and quality assurance, enabling rigorous application of DNA analysis. iBOL supports the expansion of barcoding efforts, particularly for insects, linking our regional data to global biodiversity initiatives. Saint Joseph University leads research implementation and capacity building, ensuring regional ownership and continuity. These collaborations combine global knowledge with local ecological and institutional context, enabling innovation and scalability.

Long-term collaborative relationships, shared scientific goals, and mutual trust were key. International funding and technical assistance fostered knowledge exchange. The presence of a dedicated local research team facilitated communication and implementation. Shared commitment to open data and capacity building strengthened partnerships.

Strong partnerships require continuous communication, respect for local contexts, and clear roles. International collaboration accelerates technology transfer but must be coupled with local capacity building to ensure sustainability. We learned the importance of balancing global scientific standards with regional ecological realities. Formal agreements and joint planning helped align expectations. Integrating diverse expertise—from molecular biology to ecology and policy—enhanced project impact. Finally, these partnerships opened avenues for future research and expanded conservation networks.

Localized Reference Library Development

The creation of a comprehensive, open-access DNA reference library of native plant and animal species was foundational to our solution. Recognizing that global databases lacked coverage for many Eastern Mediterranean species, we built the first Lebanese library encompassing plants, mammals, and now expanding to insects, birds, and fungi. This reference database improves the accuracy of DNA sequence matching and enables precise identification of species present in environmental samples. It also fills a critical regional data gap and facilitates ecological studies, biodiversity monitoring, and conservation planning. By publishing the library openly, we promote transparency, collaboration, and the potential for adaptation in similar biodiversity hotspots.

Strong institutional support from Saint Joseph University, collaboration with local taxonomists, and access to specimens were vital. Funding from initial grants allowed sequencing efforts. Commitment to open data principles ensured broad accessibility. Support from iBOL facilitated integration into global databases, enhancing utility and visibility.

Building a reliable reference library requires significant coordination between molecular scientists and taxonomists. Accurate species identification depends heavily on quality-verified voucher specimens and metadata. The process is time-consuming but indispensable for meaningful metabarcoding results. Sharing the library openly generated interest and collaboration but also highlighted the need for continuous updates and expansion to cover more taxa. Engaging local experts fostered ownership and increased the scientific credibility of the data, ensuring the library’s sustainability as a national resource.

Hybrid training & conservation advocacy

This building block provides hands-on training for researchers and conservationists in Benin and South Africa (offline) and globally (online via Zoom) on using Declas. The sessions cover:

  • Software use: Uploading data, interpreting AI-generated results, and integrating findings into conservation strategies.
  • Conservation advocacy: Raising awareness on vulture decline and AI’s role in scalable monitoring.

Trainees will learn to deploy Declas in field surveys, reducing reliance on manual counts while improving data accuracy. The hybrid approach ensures broad accessibility, empowering local teams with cost-effective technology.

  • Reliable internet and power for online/offline sessions.
  • Local partner support for logistics and engagement.
  • Pre-training preparation (materials, software setup).
Interactive Interface for Citizen Scientists

Apart from common comprehension of wildlife, citizens can also get involved in the following advanced activities and become “citizen scientists”.

1. Verify the existence of wild animals through the AI recognition tool “Species Eye”;

2. Estimate the number of wild animals manually;

3. Select the species of wild animal;

4. Figure out the name of the wild animal through the AI recognition tool “Species Eye”;

5. Ensure the accuracy and consistency of data by marking the geographic location.

Connection with Citizens

This mini program, through scanning or searching, provides the access for every citizen to infrared images of wildlife in his/her geographic location, which allows them to participate in the sharing of nature with wildlife in a simpler and more intuitive manner through this application.

Processing of Numerous Infrared Images Driven by AI Species Recognition

The Mini Program, with AI intelligent recognition as the underlying technology and endangered species as the core targets for recognition, trains a large biodiversity recognition model capable of monitoring such systems as mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grasslands and sandy lands. This recognition model features a powerful “engine” – Species Eye. As the fundamental and general model of “Wildlife Friends”, it is primarily characterized by strong learning capability, that is, multimodal recognition based on no or a few samples. It indicates that it can rapidly recognize the location and species information of multiple wild animals based on a few samples. For instance, it may take thousands of photos to be captured and days’ training for a traditional model to recognize a new species, but Species Eye can complete such mission quickly through a small number of photos, as well as trainings and iterations. In addition, it boasts a high extent of tolerance. It is no longer limited to the training and prediction for specific species with a powerful capability of open vocabulary identification and zero-sample recognition, and is able to accurately recognize and locate species without trained data. For instance, traditional models can merely recognize species based on trained data, such as tiger and antelope; while this new model can discriminate snow leopard and fox at the same time even without trained data of those two wild animals before. Another advantage of “Species Eye” is lower costs. Common AI models rely heavily on high-performance accelerator cards, which cause a high cost in hardware environment and its maintenance.

The underlying technology of this mini program is advanced and complex. Firstly, it has a powerful storage function that can store over 100 million infrared camera-taken photos provided by social institutions. 

WeChat Mini Program Development

WeChat Mini Program is an application accessible without download, near at your fingertips just by scanning or searching. It is very simple to design a mini program, as a mini program development environment and developer ecosystem has been established in nearly two years. WeChat Mini Program is also an innovative achievement which genuinely influences general programmers in China’s IT industry for it involves over 1.5 million developers in its development together with WeChat. Its number has exceeded 1 million, encompassing more than 200 subdivided sectors and accommodating 200 million daily-active users.

1. Use without download: Users can open the mini program by scanning the QR code or searching in no need of download, which saves the storage space for mobile devices and lowers the usage threshold; they can quickly visit the mini program directly through WeChat to meet their temporary usage demands.

2. Low development costs and short cycle: The mini program sets a low technical standard and causes a small learning cost to developers based on front-end technology stacks (HTML/CSS/JS); and is compatible among various platforms and supports iOS and Android after development, which saves human labor and time costs.

3. Powerful traffic inlet and social fission: WeChat boasts 1.3 billion monthly-active users so it is easy to cultivate a sound user base. It supports the sharing channels to chat boxes, Moments, official accounts, and Search. Social dissemination, through sharing, group buying, and bargaining, can rapidly multiply and is suitable for marketing activities.

Wildlife Friends is a mini program on WeChat. As a lightweight application, it boasts the following apparent advantages suitable for quick access for users and enhancement of their use experience: Use without download: Users can open the mini program by scanning the QR code or searching in no need of download, which saves the storage space for mobile devices and lowers the usage threshold; they can quickly visit the mini program directly through WeChat to meet their temporary usage demands.

 

Local and national awareness campaign on agroecology

Agroecology is a holistic approach, often described as a practice, a science and a social movement. Agroecology is the base for all interventions suggested in this solution.

As the initiated mindset change requires a fundamental, global behavioural change, an essential part of the efforts are directed to advocacy and awareness building activities such as information spreading through media houses, social media channels and conducting field visits with stakeholders from government, policy makers, educational entities, NGOs, donors and the private sector. 

Malawi has a population of around 22 million (worldometer 2025), of which almost 18 million are smallhoder farmers. If the initiated grassroot movement can be strengthened, Malawi could act as a leader in the global agroecological movement.

In times of climatic and economic crisis, smallholder farmers in Malawi are very vulnerable in terms of food security. 

Microcredits for smallholder farmers who venture into (agricultural) businesses are more likely to transition to agroecology, as long as their basic needs are covered.

It is fundamental to involve governmental agricultural extension officers, as they are long-term stakeholders who monitor and accompany the practical implementers in the field, the smallholder farmers. 

To accelerate this process, strong advocacy efforts are needed on national level that push for policy shifts and their implementation.