Bhutan for Life Environmental and Social Management Plan for BC-02

The ESMP for Biological Corridor 2 (BC-02) in Bhutan outlines the environmental and social safeguards required for two primary activities planned for 2024-2025: the maintenance of Dikchhu Park and the Wangdue Range Office. It provides a baseline of the corridor's biodiversity—including focal species like the tiger and red panda—and socio-economic conditions of local communities. The plan mandates strict adherence to both Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB) laws and WWF's Social Safeguards Integrated Policies and Procedures (SIPP), with the latter prevailing in cases of discrepancy regarding land use and community consultation. Mitigation measures focus on noise control, air quality, waste management, and occupational health and safety (OHS) for workers.

• The Bhutan for Life (BFL) project is a 14-year initiative designed to maintain Bhutan's carbon neutrality by increasing forest cover and enhancing the resilience of protected areas and biological corridors.
• In cases of discrepancy between national laws and WWF's Social Safeguards Integrated Policies and Procedures (SIPP), the WWF policies prevail, particularly regarding the eligibility of non-title holders for compensation and the requirement for extensive community consultations.
• Biological Corridor 2 (BC-02) is 60 km long, linking Jigme Dorji National Park and Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park, and serves as a habitat for focal species including tigers, red pandas, and musk deer.
• The corridor's vegetation is diverse, spanning three eco-regions: Eastern Himalayan Broadleaf Forests, Eastern Himalayan Subalpine Forests, and Himalayan Subtropical Pine Forests.
• Socio-economic surveys of 82 households in the corridor indicate that 77% of respondents are engaged in agriculture, with wildlife crop depredation by sambar and wild pig cited as a primary issue by 75% of respondents.
• Planned activities for 2024-2025 include the maintenance of Dikchhu Park (budgeted at 2.355 million) to streamline the Dikchhu stream and the maintenance of the Wangdue Range Office (budgeted at 1.5 million) to address structural and electrical deterioration.
• To protect the Golden Mahseer in Dikchhu Park, streamlining work is scheduled specifically between October and January when the fish have migrated downstream.
• The ESMP identifies minor short-term risks for both planned activities, including noise disturbance, dust emissions, and waste generation, with mitigation measures such as restricting work hours to 7am–7pm and using water-spraying on dry days.
• A total budget of 30,000 Ngultrum is allocated specifically for implementing Environmental and Social Safeguards (ESS) mitigation measures across the two sites.
• The project implements a multi-tiered grievance redressal mechanism, allowing stakeholders to report issues via the BFL-specific mechanism, the WWF Grievance Mechanism, or the GCF Independent Review Mechanism.

APA

WWF International (2024). Bhutan for Life Environmental and Social Management Plan for BC-02. https://files.worldwildlife.org/wwfcmsprod/files/Publication/file/59xzgwwih3_BC2_ESMP_2024.pdf

Chicago

WWF International. Bhutan for Life Environmental and Social Management Plan for BC-02. 2024. https://files.worldwildlife.org/wwfcmsprod/files/Publication/file/59xzgwwih3_BC2_ESMP_2024.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=WWF International |title=Bhutan for Life Environmental and Social Management Plan for BC-02 |date=2024 |url=https://files.worldwildlife.org/wwfcmsprod/files/Publication/file/59xzgwwih3_BC2_ESMP_2024.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wwfinternational2024bhutan, author = {{WWF International}}, title = {{Bhutan for Life Environmental and Social Management Plan for BC-02}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2024}, url = {https://files.worldwildlife.org/wwfcmsprod/files/Publication/file/59xzgwwih3_BC2_ESMP_2024.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }