Miniaturised laboratorial equipment as a solution to implement conservation genetics tools and education in West African countries with limited infrastructures: an application to the study of illegal wildlife trade in Guinea-Bissau

Abstract

Illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is considered one of the largest global illegal industries that negatively impacts biodiversity and sustainable development worldwide. DNA barcoding coupled with high-throughput sequencing has been shown to be useful in identifying taxa affected by IWT and has been routinely used during the last decades. However, for countries lacking laboratory infrastructures and sequencing units or trained staff, the application of DNA barcoding tools in conservation actions and policies is limited and dependent on slow sample export processes and molecular analyses carried out abroad. Guinea-Bissau (GB) is located on the West-African coast and has one of the lowest human development indices worldwide, while being a biodiversity hotspot facing many conservation challenges due to illegal commercial hunting, and trade in bushmeat and live individuals. Here, we explore the potential of using inexpensive and portable miniaturised laboratory equipment (MLE) to i) identify species illegally traded in GB using DNA barcoding methods and ii) to improve molecular biology and conservation genetic education and training in GB. Our overarching aim is to raise awareness of the current gap between the need to apply conservation genetic technologies in GB and the inability to do so due to a lack of laboratory infrastructures, sequencing units and opportunities for molecular biology training. We show that MLE can be a solution to accelerate the use of DNA barcoding methods to understand IWT and to train students, technicians and staff from governmental agencies dedicated to investigating environmental crimes, ultimately advancing the discipline of conservation genetics in the country.