Bhutan for Life Funding Proposal

The Bhutan for Life (BFL) project is a 14-year initiative designed to provide a financial bridge for the sustainable management of Bhutan's protected areas (PAs) and biological corridors (BCs), covering approximately 51% of the country's territory. The project is categorized as 'Category B' by WWF, meaning potential adverse impacts are site-specific and reversible. The ESMF provides a structured process for screening, impact assessment, and the development of activity-specific Environmental and Social Management Plans (ESMPs). Key project components include forestry and land use climate mitigation, community-based adaptation, climate-smart conservation, and institutional capacity building. The framework emphasizes Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) for affected communities and establishes a multi-tiered Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) ranging from local negotiation to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests (MoAF).

• The BFL project covers 10 Protected Areas (PAs) and 8 Biological Corridors (BCs), encompassing approximately 51% of Bhutan's territory and 85 of its 205 Gewogs.
• The project is designed as a 14-year financial bridge to develop internal financing capacity for PA management, utilizing a Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) approach with significant funding from the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
• Component A focuses on climate mitigation by maintaining 1.1 million hectares of land within the PA network to secure 206 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, with a goal to increase sequestration by 35.1 million tons of CO2eq over 14 years.
• Component B and C focus on adaptation, including community-based Climate Vulnerability and Capacity Assessments (CVCAs), the development of climate-smart species conservation plans for tigers and snow leopards, and the protection of ten critical watersheds.
• The project is categorized as 'Category B' because potential adverse environmental and social impacts are considered site-specific, reversible, and readily mitigable.
• The ESMF identifies specific negative environmental risks, including impacts from excavation and waste management during minor construction, disturbance to wildlife movement from fencing, and the risk of desecrating cultural sites due to increased tourism.
• Social risks include conflicts over land use boundaries, forest offenses such as poaching, and restrictions on access to natural resources.
• The framework mandates a 'chance find' procedure for cultural materials discovered during construction, as the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGOB) lacks a formal accepted procedure for such occurrences.
• A formal Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) is established with a hierarchy of resolution: starting with the local Tshogpa, escalating to the Gewog GRC, then the Dzongkhag GRC, and finally the MoAF GRC before reaching a Court of Law.
• The project requires Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) from affected parties, with specific mechanisms for private land owners, Community Forest groups, and local communities via the Gup and Tshogpa.
• The total estimated cost for implementing the ESMF is USD 857,540.00, which includes personnel, training for 970 local representatives, travel, and a socio-economic baseline survey.

APA

Peljor, N. (2017). Bhutan for Life Funding Proposal. WWF International. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/1840/fp___bhutan_for_life___wwf___environmental_and_social_management_framework.pdf

Chicago

Peljor, Nidup. Bhutan for Life Funding Proposal. WWF International, 2017. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/1840/fp___bhutan_for_life___wwf___environmental_and_social_management_framework.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Peljor |first1=Nidup |title=Bhutan for Life Funding Proposal |publisher=WWF International |date=20 May 2017 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/1840/fp___bhutan_for_life___wwf___environmental_and_social_management_framework.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{peljor2017bhutan, author = {Peljor, Nidup}, title = {{Bhutan for Life Funding Proposal}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2017}, month = may, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/1840/fp___bhutan_for_life___wwf___environmental_and_social_management_framework.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }