Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park (JSWNP) is an important Protected Area in Bhutan, holding diverse wildlife populations that share its resources with farmers and their livestock living within the park, sparking competition and conflict.  Predators, especially tiger and leopard, cause significant economic and social losses, exacerbating farmers’ low income status and lack of economic prospects.  Farmers regularly – and illegally – kill these carnivores, while livestock degrades the park’s habitats.  Consequently JSWNP and its wildlife is under threat.  This project aims to reduce conflicts through initiatives that will provide alternative economic incentives to farmers, and by implementing conservation programmes to protect wildlife, especially the top carnivores.

To date, the project has implemented: (1) A pilot community based ecotourism project.  This is still in its first year, so difficult to assess as yet.  In Future, we expect to evaluate its impacts on the community, biodiversity, economic returns to the farmers and visitor satisfaction.  (2) A cane and bamboo management project has been initiated in Korphu and Langthel areas.  Here cane and bamboo are being used to produce utlity products which are sold in the Bhutanese markets.  Cash incomes generated from these sales are deposited into a community saving accounts with a local bank.  The first major benefit has been the purchase of corrugated galvanized iron (CGI) sheets to replace wooden roofing.  Unlike wooden shingles, CGI sheets are durable, thus saving labour and trees.  Surveys of tiger and leopard feeding habits and the abundance of prey species have also been started.  Initial problems, such as dense forest, rugged terrain and thick litter that reduces visibility, are being addressed.

Maps showing (1) Bhutan and its Protected Areas and wildlife corridors and, (2) Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park (JSWNP) in the centre of Bhutan

However, these efforts remain incomplete without addressing our future objectives, which include : (1) determining the home range size and critical habitats for these keystone species: tiger and leopard; (2) resettlement of residents from the core of the park, so that the area currently occupied by them becomes available for re-colonisation by flora and fauna, thus avoiding fragmentation of the park; (3) establish a pilot insurance programme to replace the present system of donor-dependent cash compensation (which is highly unsustainabl); and (4) implement activities aimed at generating incomes from alternative sources (e.g., cane and bamboo management, community tourism, proposed piper management, etc.).

Currently, scientific data on the ecology of these top predators, their habitat, prey, diet selection and interactions with humans are not available for Bhutan.  This is, therefore, vital research, the results of which will form the scientific basis underpinning future conservation actions for these sympatric carnivores and hence their overall ecosystem.  In conjunction with the scientific research, the project will explore means of achieving reconciliation, including the esdsential education and involvement of farmers in nature conservation.

Local capacity building for park rangers and the project leader will enhance their skills and enable replication of this project in other national parks in Bhutan.  Study findings will be published in peer reviewed international journals and information packets in local languages.

You can find out about the budget for this project by contacting us. See our contact details.

If you are interested in finding out more about the science involved in this project, we would be happy to send you further information.

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Principal funders
Disney
Save The Tiger Foundation
Whitley Fund for Nature

Main Partners