Chapter 2
Fig. 1 Dry months in
watersheds and sub-watersheds
Fig..2 Authority and control under His Majesty
Fig. 3 Ministries in Royal Government of Bhutan
Chapter 3
Fig. 4 National landuse
Fig. 5 Percentage of Natural Forests to total area in the district
Fig.
6 Change in landuse over last three decades
Fig. 7 Growing stock in
different districts of Bhutan
Fig. 8 Share of districts in biomass
production
Fig. 9 Landuse in Protected Area network
Chapter 4
Fig. 10 Growth of
population
Fig. 11 Increase in area under cultivation
Fig. 12 Population
trend of livestock
Fig. 13 Average number of Livestock per household
Fig. 14 Widening of economic base of Bhutan
Fig. 15 Contribution of
forestry in economic growth
Chapter 5
Fig. 16 Fuelwood
consumption and population
Fig. 17 Domestic consumption of timber
Fig.
18 Natural pastures
Fig. 19 Extent of shifting cultivation
Chapter 6
Fig. 20 Departments and
Corporations under MOA
Fig. 21 Organization structure of Forest Department
Fig. 22 Forest organization below DFOs
Chapter 7
Fig. 23 Composition of
offenses on public forest land
Chapter 2
Table 1. Area under
different altitudinal zones
Table 2. Area under watersheds
Table 3.
Variation in annual rainfall
Table 4. Agro-ecological zones
Chapter 3
Table 5. National landuse
Table 6. Natural Forest cover
Table 7. Conservation Areas of Bhutan
Chapter 6
Table 8. Main forest
resource problems
Table 9. Management plans and FMU
Appendix 1
Table A1.1. Dry month in different Sub-catchments
Appendix 2
Table A2.1. Landuse
classification under different studies
Table A2.2. Landuse in each dzongkhag
of Bhutan
Table A2.3. Forest cover by crown density and dzongkhag
Table
A2.4 Change in landuse
Table A2.5. Districtwise Growing Stock
Table A2.6
Biomass production in districts
Table A2.7 Landuse in protected Areas
Appendix 3
Table A3.1. Future
population predictions
Table A3.2. Population of livestock
Table A3.3.
Bhutan's Human Development Index
Table A3.4. Sector shares in Gross Domestic
Product (GDP)
Table A3.5. Past Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Table A3.6.
GDP during current FYP period
Table A3.7. Expected rates of growth of GDP
and population
Appendix 4
Table A4.1. Current and
future fuelwood Consumption
Table A4.2. Domestic consumption of construction
Timber
Table A4.3. Area of natural and improved pastures
Table A4.4.
Shifting cultivation
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) regularly provides information on the world's forest resources. The FAO project "Strengthening Country Capacity in Forest Resource Assessment for Sustainable Forest Planning in the Asia Pacific Region (GCP/RAS/162/JPN)" is attempting to both supplement and support these effort by working at the regional and country level to develop information on the status, planning and management of forest resources in South Asian countries.
This report contains six chapters. The first chapter sketches the ecological, political and social governance of natural resources. The second chapter describes the condition of forest resources over space and time. The third chapter provides information to visualize economic the dimensions of forest resources. The fourth chapter attempts to capture the variable patterns of forest use. The fifth chapter presents the policy and planning framework that directs the management of forest resources. The sixth chapter considers the legal regulations that control the use and management of forests, assesses their impact on the social fabric of Bhutan, and examines the capacity of the Forest Department to enforce them.
Bhutan is a kingdom ruled by a hereditary king. A majority of the Bhutanese are Buddhists and Buddhism is supported by the state. The total population is approximately 640 000 with a 2.9 percent annual growth rate. Bhutanese mostly live in about 1 000 villages organized into 20 dzongkhags (districts) and 197 gewogs (blocks). The country has a basic need-based economy with a predominance of agriculture, animal husbandry, and forestry. The main land-use is forest.
The narrow economic base of Bhutan is broadening with a declining share of the agriculture sector in the gross domestic product and an increasing share in the production sector, which includes hydropower generation projects. Although the share of the agriculture and animal husbandry sub-sectors is declining, yet, the pressure on forest resources continues to increase. The forestry share of the agriculture sector is also declining, mainly due to a ban on large-scale felling to promote forest conservation.
Hydro-electricity projects dominate the fast growing production sector of the Bhutanese economy and are likely to remain so in the near future. However, the status of hydropower projects can change drastically if the catchment areas of these projects are not well protected. Thus the watershed management plans, including biological diversity conservation programs, are closely linked with hydropower generation, the most important source of income for the country.
The rapid economic development of Bhutan has transformed many of its social values and institutions, including the traditional perception people have about forests. Traditionally, forests were communally owned with unlimited access to the forest for firewood, timber and food. The modern reality is government ownership with limited access, a source of monetary income, and a potential for other forms of land use. This change has taken place following the enactment of Forest Act of 1969 through which the state assumed full authority and control of forests.
Bhutan ranks in the top ten percent of the world's countries with the greatest species diversity (species richness per unit area). It has the highest percentage of land under protected areas and the greatest proportion of forest cover compared to any Asian country. Many ecologists believe that Bhutan represents the last best chance for the conservation of biodiversity in the Eastern Himalayas, a region of critical importance. Bhutan has another distinction among developing countries in that it has allocated 26.3 percent of its geographical area to 5 national parks and 4 wildlife sanctuaries, even while it is using loans to augment its financial resources for development.
Forest patterns in Bhutan are the outcome of a close relationship between the macro-level financial constraints of the government on investments in forestry (human resources, research and development) and micro level disturbances due to biophysical, economic, social and other factors. There is more pressure on forests in areas with low productivity of land, high population per unit area of forest, insufficient cash income and ineffective social institutions than in areas with high productivity of land, lower population per unit area of forest, sufficient cash income and effective local social institutions. The following figure presents changes in landuse and forest cover during last four decades based on an analysis of satellite imageries by Land Use Planning Project, 1997. However, another analysis of the same imageries presents a different picture (Gupta, 1992).
(Source: LUPP, 1997)
Figure. Change in land-use over the last four decades
The per capita statistics at the national level indicates self-sufficiency in forest goods and services. However, at the local level there are problems of resource scarcity and degradation due to excessive unplanned firewood extraction, shifting cultivation and livestock grazing and browsing. These problems have resulted mainly from a large and increasing human population and limited availability of forest resources. Accelerated economic growth, the growing human population, declining enforceability of forest regulations and disruption of local social institutions have further aggravated these problems. Regional studies indicate that the contribution of forests to fodder and grazing has increased from 30% to 66% (MPFD, 1991). The current level of fuelwood consumption (1.0 million m3) alone is reaching the limit of annual allowable cut of wood from all operable forest areas.
Forest Department has been able to develop forest management plans for 34 forest management units covering about one fourth of the forest area with very limited financial and human resources. Bhutan has also done commendable work in developing management plans for two out of the nine protected areas (5 national parks and 4 sanctuaries).
The state has assumed responsibility of forest resource management by changing forest property rights through various laws like Forest Act of 1969 and the Forest and Conservation Act of 1995. This shift of responsibility from local communities to the state has adversely affected the local social organizations and their control over forest resources. Dependence of local people on the state for forest resources has increased while the value of self-reliance, group effort and customary regulation has declined.
The scarcity of human and financial resources has limited the capability of the Forest Department to enforce the laws. This has adversely affected the credibility of the government at the local level and has promoted illegal appropriation of forest resources. To overcome these enforcement problems, the government is attempting to revitalize local social institutions through the development of partnerships and the decentralization of authority and control over forest resources.
To strengthen forestry research, international funding agencies are now including specific research components in their forestry projects. However, the limited time span of many of these projects is not compatible with the long-term nature of forestry research. The government has taken some initiatives to provide long-term support to forestry research.
The main challenge for the forestry sector at national level is to attract sufficient financial resources for development while sustaining the environment, natural resources and people. At the local level, the problem is to satisfy the growing needs of an increasing population and to support other important sectors, such as hydropower generation. These problems are likely to continue for a long time because current national economic planning does not address these issues. Intensive studies are needed to understand and search for alternatives to the identified problems. A critical need is to develop a credible monitoring system for continuous updated information on forest resources.
