Bhutan, is characterized by a highly mountainous terrain, extensive forest, abundant rains and rivers, maintains a forest cover of 72.5% to date, and is one of the ‘Biodiversity hot spots’ of the world. These natural resources are in good condition due to the strong conservationist policy of the Bhutanese government since the late 1960s. By law, 60% of the land area must remain under forest cover, and most of the headwaters are under dense forest cover.

Bhutan joined the UN-REDD Programme in 2010. UN-REDD activities initially involved an analysis of opportunities for UN-REDD Targeted Support. In April 2012, a UN-REDD team participated in a National Workshop on REDD+ Strategy Development to identify specific activities that UN-REDD could support. In the second half of 2012, UN-REDD Targeted Support funds were used to support activities contributing to the development of Bhutan's REDD+ Strategy including development of a national forest inventory database, an analysis of REDD+ corruption risks, a national forest monitoring systems training workshop, a proposal for a REDD+ benefit distribution system, and capacity development on environmental safeguards.

With UNDP funding, the UN-REDD Programme is also assisting in coordinating an inclusive preparation process for the National REDD+ Strategy. The report is available here.

READ-iness: Bhutan stands to gain but various issues need to be considered
Source: The Bhutanese
April 2012
Read more

Bhutan Joins the UN-REDD Programme
August 2010
The UN-REDD Programme welcomes Bangladesh, Bhutan, Central African Republic, Colombia, and Guatemala as new partners to the Programme. Read full article…