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This Saturday, October 12th, we celebrate World Migratory Bird Day. This year’s theme, “Protect Insects, Protect Birds,” is the perfect example of how species and ecosystems are interconnected and depend on each other to thrive.

This September, Fauna & Flora and BCOMING took on a very special campaign: The Cambodia Takeover series, bringing attention to the vital work that is being carried out in the country. Every Thursday, we’ve explored different facets of Cambodia’s unique biodiversity, highlighting Fauna & Flora’s work while fostering a deeper understanding of the country’s natural heritage. Through this collaboration, we wanted to show the incredible work being done by Fauna & Flora and how it ties into the broader goals of the BCOMING project. 

The BCOMING project aims to conduct a thorough evaluation of biodiversity across various anthropogenic gradients and scales. In Cambodia, the scientific team is focusing on the bat interface as a key component, not only to assess zoonotic risk but also to understand broader ecological dynamics. Among the features being evaluated are the communities of bats' ectoparasites, which play important roles in bats’ ecosystem health and disease transmission dynamics between them. Bats harbor a diverse array of ectoparasites, including fleas, flies, ticks, and mites for examples, and are an integral part to the intricate relationships between them, their hosts, and the environment. Despite being often overlooked, these ectoparasites appear to be essential ecological components and can serve as indicators of ecosystem health. While poorly understood, these ectoparasites, through occasional changes of host, could facilitate the transmission of infectious diseases within bat colonies. Two families, Streblidae and Nycteribiidae, stand out for their unique adaptations and behaviors within the bat ecosystem.

As part of the BCOMING project in Guinea, CERFIG organised a field mission from 12th to 27th January 2024, for capturing rodents and sampling bats in the Samyankhouré cave, Madina-Oula sub-prefecture.

Mammals, a vital component of terrestrial ecosystems, are facing drastic declines due to anthropogenic changes in landscapes. With many species secluded in protected areas and facing extreme conservation status, there is a growing need for rapid, cost-effective, and noninvasive methods to monitor their populations. Within BCOMING, it is important that we use the most accurate techniques to establish biodiversity assessment as it is a core component in our research on pathogen circulation. Our team at Université de Liège in Belgium, consisting of Dr Pauline van Leeuwen and Prof. Johan Michaux, delves into the scientific literature for non-invasive methods to detect mammalian species in the field. They published the first scientific article supported by the BCOMING consortium. This study compares conventional survey methods and the emerging environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding technique for mammal biodiversity assessment.

In the heart of Southeast Asia lies Cambodia, a country teeming with biodiversity that has long captivated the imaginations of scientists and conservationists alike. Nestled within this rich tapestry of ecosystems, a dedicated research team from Université de Liège embarks on an exciting journey to unravel the mysteries of Cambodia's wildlife microbiome at the human-animal interface. Our team at Université de Liège in Belgium, consisting of Dr Pauline van Leeuwen and Prof. Johan Michaux, is leading the microbiome component of the BCOMING project. We aim to improve our knowledge of the influence of biodiversity and on microbiomes structure and zoonotic risks.

Our journey to Samyankhouré led us to meet with the Prefect and his staff to finalize mission orders. Accompanied by the Deputy Director General of Agriculture and Livestock for Kindia, we greeted local authorities before settling into our campsite. The authorities expressed gratitude for our conservation efforts in their area.

Our journey from N'Zérékoré to Macenta led us to the Prefect's residence, where we completed administrative formalities. With the Deputy Prefectural Director of Agriculture and Livestock, we met community representatives at a workshop organized by Fauna et Flora Internationale. Despite the absence of local authorities due to a training course, we received encouragement for our wildlife monitoring efforts.

Mission Overview: Our team embarked on the fourth field mission organized by CERFIG from November 10th to 29th, 2023, as part of the BCOMING project. The primary objectives were to investigate, capture, and sample rodents while continuing the ecological monitoring of bats in the Samyankhouré cave in Guinea's Kindia prefecture.

On the 13th of December (2023), MERFI organised a workshop where Alex Smajgl presented the draft ABM model and its interface. The presentation was followed by a discussion.

On the 12th of December (2023), Cherie presented the findings of her first year's research on optimising zoonotic virus surveillance in bats with mechanistic models. For this, she used data collected by Julien and his team over four years in collaboration with IPC. Recognising the potential transmission of various viruses from bats to humans, Cherie emphasised the importance of bat surveillance.

As part of the BCOMING project, I had the opportunity to visit Cambodia for the first time, a country that had always interested me with its unique blend of ancient history, sobering past, bustling city life, and vibrant street markets.

Bats constitute a large proportion of Cambodia’s mammal fauna with 83 species currently confirmed in the kingdom (Furey et al. 2021, Csorba & Furey 2022, Furey unpubl. data). This figure will almost certainly increase with further research in the country’s under-studied border regions. Roughly half of the species presently known to occur in Cambodia comprise species that are frequently found in caves and other subterranean sites and because these bats spend at least half their lives inside caves, protection of such sites is essential for their conservation.