Environmental and Social Management Plan for Royal Manas National Park

The ESMP for Royal Manas National Park outlines mitigation strategies for seven planned activities, including staff quarter maintenance, river bank protection, and grassland management. It focuses on minimizing waste, ensuring worker health and safety, and preventing wildfires during prescribed burning, while adhering to both Bhutanese law and WWF safeguards.

• The Bhutan for Life (BFL) project is a 14-year initiative designed to increase climate resilience and biodiversity gains in Bhutan by securing a network of Protected Areas (PAs) and Biological Corridors (BCs).
• Royal Manas National Park (RMNP) covers 1057.28 sq. km and is a critical stronghold for tigers, having been approved for Tiger conservation under the Conservation Assured Tiger Standard (CATS) in 2019.
• Seven specific activities are planned for January 2023 to June 2024 with a total budget of Nu. 11,300,000. These include the maintenance of Gomphu Range staff quarters (Nu. 2,000,000), construction of the Ngangchhu River Bank Protection Wall (Nu. 1,000,000), maintenance of the VIP guest house at Manas (Nu. 3,000,000), development of eco-trails from Manas to Hatilora and Gahati (Nu. 2,500,000), lowland grassland management at Specialthang and Kanamakura (Nu. 1,900,000), solar lighting maintenance at Kanamakura Guard post (Nu. 500,000), and maintenance of the Shengmatar to Kanamakura Forest Road (Nu. 700,000).
• The document identifies several environmental risks associated with the planned works, most notably the risk of wildfires during prescribed burning for grassland management and the generation of e-waste from solar system maintenance.
• To mitigate social and health risks, the ESMP mandates strict occupational health and safety (OHS) standards, including the provision of first aid kits, the prohibition of underage workers, and the implementation of a grievance mechanism for workers.
• In cases of discrepancy between the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB) laws and WWF's Social Safeguards Integrated Policies and Procedures (SIPP), the WWF SIPP provisions prevail, particularly regarding compensation for non-title holders and community consultation requirements.
• The ESMP specifies that no separate budget for environmental and social (ESS) mitigation is proposed because the activities are small-scale; instead, mitigation costs are to be incorporated into the respective activity budgets or bidding documents.

APA

WWF International (2023). Environmental and Social Management Plan for Royal Manas National Park. https://files.worldwildlife.org/wwfcmsprod/files/Publication/file/3hlg0399kp_RMNP_ESMP_2023.pdf

Chicago

WWF International. Environmental and Social Management Plan for Royal Manas National Park. 2023. https://files.worldwildlife.org/wwfcmsprod/files/Publication/file/3hlg0399kp_RMNP_ESMP_2023.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=WWF International |title=Environmental and Social Management Plan for Royal Manas National Park |date=January 2023 |url=https://files.worldwildlife.org/wwfcmsprod/files/Publication/file/3hlg0399kp_RMNP_ESMP_2023.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wwfinternational2023environmental, author = {{WWF International}}, title = {{Environmental and Social Management Plan for Royal Manas National Park}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2023}, month = jan, url = {https://files.worldwildlife.org/wwfcmsprod/files/Publication/file/3hlg0399kp_RMNP_ESMP_2023.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }