Growing our forests and communities

Bhutan is one of the only three carbon negative countries in the world. This was not a natural occurrence, though. It was the result of decades of concerted efforts by the Bhutanese to protect their surroundings. It began in the early 1970’s when His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck introduced Gross National Happiness index as Bhutan’s leading policy and declared conservation of the environment as one of the index’s four key pillars.

Bhutan is the only country with constitutional obligations to protect the environment. Among its requirements, at least 60 percent of the nation must remain under forest cover at all times. Currently, over 70% of Bhutan remains forested. Over 50% of its total land area is protected — the 4th highest percentage worldwide — which has created a sanctuary for over 770 bird, 200 mammals and 5,400 plant species. It is recognized as one of the most protected global biodiversity hotspots on our planet. 

Over 71% of Bhutan's territory is under forest cover

4K of the remaining 4.1K endangered golden langurs live in Bhutan

But regardless of its concerted efforts, Bhutan still falls victim to the negative effects caused by our warming planet. The rising global temperatures have drastically accelerated the rate of glacial melt in Bhutan’s high highlands. Annual retreat levels have risen up to 35m, feeding massive amounts of water into surrounding lakes. If lake walls become unstable, their barriers burst and set loose a massive volume of water that could cause significant damage to the valleys and its inhabitants below. Deforestation through lodging, natural calamities, and man made forest fires are also evident. This has consequences for the diverse ecosystems and various forms of wildlife that depend on the forest covers to survive.

Staying carbon negative will help protect Bhutan from these growing issues. It requires an aggressive approach to maintaining tree cover and conserving Bhutan’s open wilderness.

Bhutan is typically an agrarian country, with over 55% of its labor force working in the agricultural sector — more than double the global average — and 95% of the earning women. With the capital city, Thimphu, opening to other industries at a much faster pace than the rest of the country, agriculture plays an essential role in maintaining inclusive economic integrity across the nation. Along with its byproduct, ecotourism, agriculture is the lifeline to raising the value of rural land and the per capita income for Bhutanese living in these rural communities.

In addition to rural farm families, the monastic communities have also experienced the need to raise their land value and become more self-sufficient. With the private sector quickly growing, sections of monastic land have been leased for alarmingly low rates to private business owners. In 2020, His Majesty’s Office launched an initiative to increase the value of monastic land in order to protect its fair value.

Nearly two thirds of Bhutan's population reside in rural areas

Monastic lands have been leased for alarmingly low rates to the private sector

For both rural farm families and monastic communities, planting high-value fruit-bearing trees fosters food security and opens avenues for the commercial market. It also contributes to the national food and nutrition security.

However, the startup costs to own fruit-bearing trees is too high for most and entry into the marketplace (with Indian sellers becoming a more prominent segment of the market due to better road conditions between Thimphu and the southern border) makes the startup costs less intriguing. So, it is of major benefit to provide farmers and monastic communities with this opportunity to enter into the market with fruit-bearing trees at no initial cost.

Bhutan has a rich biodiversity with over 5,400 plant species. The landscape is diverse with varying microclimates. We work with experts and partner organizations to identify appropriate areas for forestation and identify native saplings that will not disrupt the natural ecosystem. To date, we have planted the following tree species.