Status and trends of biodiversity, including benefits from biodiversity and ecosystem services

Bhutan is located in the Eastern Himalayas which have been identified as a global biodiversity hotspot, and counted among the 234 globally outstanding eco-regions of the world in a comprehensive analysis of global biodiversity undertaken by the World Wildlife Fund (1995-1997). Bhutan has six major agro-ecological zones corresponding with certain altitudinal ranges and climatic conditions (e.g... More »

Main pressures on and drivers of change to biodiversity (direct and indirect)

Main threats to wild species diversity include land conversion, overexploitation, dependence on wood for fuel, pollution by domestic sewage, climate change and forest fires. Forest biodiversity is threatened by the state of the country’s development process and their associated needs for forest products, infrastructure development, population growth and living space requirements, rapid urbanization, agricultural expansion, grazing pressures and forest fires... More »

Implementation of the NBSAP

Bhutan has developed and implemented three Biodiversity Action Plans, the first in 1998, the second in 2002 and the third in 2009, with implementation in regard to the latter still in process. It is Bhutan’s intention to develop national targets in line with the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and to incorporate these targets in the BAP (2009)... More »

Actions taken to achieve the 2020 Aichi Biodiversity Targets

The most significant outcome achieved as a result of BAP implementation is the establishment of protected areas constituting 42.70% (protected areas) and 8.60% (biological corridors) of the country’s total land area. The protected areas system encompasses a continuum of representational samples of all major ecosystems found in the country, ranging from the tropical/subtropical grasslands and forests in the southern foothills, to temperate forests in the central mountains and valleys, to alpine meadows and scree in the northern mountains... More »

Support mechanisms for national implementation (legislation, funding, capacity-building, coordination, mainstreaming, etc.)

Biodiversity protection and sustainable development is one of Bhutan’s top priorities. As Article 5 of Bhutan’s Constitution makes clear, every Bhutanese person is considered a trustee of the Kingdom’s natural resources and environment. As a result, the Royal Government is constitutionally enjoined to conserve and improve the environment and safeguard the country’s biodiversity, notably by ensuring that a minimum of 60% of Bhutan’s total land area is maintained under forest cover for all time... More »

Mechanisms for monitoring and reviewing implementation

Monitoring initiatives and tools developed within the framework of the Biodiversity Action Plan include: the publication of the first-ever Field Guide to the Mammals of Bhutan, which provides brief accounts of the physical characteristics, social behavior, habitat and conservation threats of some 200 mammal species found in the country; field studies on the white-bellied heron (Ardea insignis) initiated in 2005 by the Royal Society for the Protection of Nature (RSPN), as well as research and monitoring of the black-necked crane (Grus nigricollis) as a part of their conservation management program in the Phobjikha Valley; and the first Bhutan Snow Leopard Information Management System (SLIMS), with training and field surveys conducted in Thimphu and Jigme Dorji National Park by the Nature Conservation Division (NCD), in collaboration with the WWF Bhutan Program and the International SnowLeopard Trust... More »