To assess values of ecosystems and to help decision-makers take appropriate policy actions, participants from WWF-Nepal, India, Bhutan and government officials from the Royal Government of Bhutan are attending a five-day training workshop on Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST). 

InVEST is a family of tools used to map and value goods and services from nature which are essential for sustaining human life.

Organized by WWF, participants will get a hands-on experience on using the tool while also working on an overview of ecosystem services in eastern Himalayas and case studies on how it has been used elsewhere.

Subhash Lohani, the Deputy Managing Director of the Eastern Himalayas Program of WWF-US said, “Bhutan has adapted the philosophy of Gross National Happiness under which one of the four pillars of happiness is environmental conservation and sustainability and this itself speaks volume on the importance of ecosystem services.”

Tariq Aziz, the Leader of Living Himalayas Network Initiative of WWF said, “Invest is important to bring out where we are and what we need to do to be where we want to and need to tell the decision makers. It will help us build scenarios into the future.”