Forest resources of Bhutan - Country report

Forest resources of Bhutan - Country report

Year of publication 1999

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Product type Book (stand-alone)

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) 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. Thi s 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 dzong khags (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..