Bhutan
Ephraim Nkonya, Weston Anderson and Edward Kato
Bhutan’s economy is heavily dependent on natural resources. Hydroelectric power (HEP) generation and agriculture respectively account for 22% and 19% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and two thirds of Bhutan’s 671,083 people depend on agriculture. This study uses satellite data to assess land use change and the Soil and Water Analysis Tool (SWAT) model to analyse the impact of land use change and land management on sediment loading and experimental results to develop empirical equations which were used to determine forest, livestock and crop productivity response to land degrading and sustainable land management (SLM) scenarios. SWAT results show that with long term SLM practices such as contouring, increased forest cover and density, terracing and other SLM practices, sediment loading in HEP plants from forested area could be reduced by 50 percent. The results also show that 40% of the benefits of SLM practices is off-farm underscoring the need to develop a more effective payment for ecosystem services to reward land users using SLM practices. Bhutan’s Druk Green Power Company (DGPC) pays about 1% of its revenue to the government to encourage farmers to adopt SLM. But because the money is given to the government, which in turn uses it to provide advisory services, it has not shown significant impact on farmer behavior because it is hard for land users to make a connection between DGPC payments and the DGPC-funded advisory services provided by the government. Establishing a direct relationship between DGPC PES and land users will incentivize land users to in SLM practices. We also observed that land tenure security, access to extension services and roads will enhance SLM and will have multiplier effects. This has important implications on the policies and strategies for enhancing SLM in Bhutan.
