Miri, 29 April 2026 Wednesday – The Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB) Sarawak, in collaboration with Curtin University Malaysia, successfully conducted the Environmental DNA (eDNA) Training and Workshop at Pullman Waterfront Hotel.

The programme aimed to strengthen the technical understanding of NREB officers in applying environmental DNA (eDNA) as a modern scientific tool to support environmental monitoring, biodiversity assessment and riverine ecosystem management.

The workshop featured knowledge sharing and hands-on training sessions by invited experts, including Prof. Paul Nevill from Curtin University, Perth, Australia, whose expertise covers molecular ecology, conservation genetics and eDNA-based biomonitoring. Dr. Ahmad Kamal Ghazali shared insights on eDNA data interpretation and species detection, while Prof. Prasanna Mohan Viswanathan introduced CHIDAM, a free software for water quality and geochemical data interpretation.

In addition, Dr. Lee Yih Nin presented practical applications of eDNA for biodiversity monitoring, covering processes from sampling to species detection.

Participants were also exposed to hands-on guidance on eDNA sample collection and completed a questionnaire to assess their understanding of the importance of eDNA in environmental monitoring.

The training is highly relevant to NREB’s environmental management functions, particularly in strengthening the biodiversity component of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), ecological monitoring and river health assessment. The application of eDNA is expected to complement conventional field surveys by assisting in species detection, supporting biodiversity baseline information and providing stronger scientific input for environmental review and decision-making.