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Report launch of nternational effort to drain dangerous Bhutan lake underlines costs and risks of climate change:

Climate Change has accelerated the rate of global warming which has resulted in the speedy changes of our natural surroundings like to fast melting of the glaciers in the Himalayas. “The Cost of Climate Change, The Story of Thorthomi lake in Bhutan” is a compilation of reports on the dangers of the melting glaciers in the Himalayan regions of Bhutan, India and Nepal and will provide information on the high risk glacial lakes in the region. The report showcases the difficulties, affects and dangers associated with the GLOF (Glacial Lake Outburst Flood), a result of melting glaciers and how Bhutan has been coping with adaptation works in GLOF...more

WWF is recruiting the services of a regional consultant under the Biological Corridor Framework Project for duration of 60 days. Please refer the Ads and the TOR if you are interested.

June 2^nd is the Coronation Day of the 4th His Majesty, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck. The day is also observed in Bhutan as the Social Forestry Day. All the schools and other officials, of all the 20 districts of the country engage in planting trees.

The Ministry of Agriculture invited WWF Bhutan to participate in this year’s tree planting event in Babesa, Thimphu. The area has been victim to many forest fires in the recent past years and is become bare of trees.

Led by Lyonpo Pema Gyamtsho, Agriculture Minister, students, army, international guests and forestry officials planted 200 trees in the 2.5 ha of area. The event was sponsored by the Tala Hydroelectric Project Authority.

WWF Country Representative, Kinzang Namgay (right) and GIS officer Kinley Gyeltshen planting their saplings

WWF Bhutan new office opening: It was in the late 1970s that WWF set its foot in Bhutan and since then it has come a long way in fostering a very reliable and fruitful relationship with the Royal Government. The opening of the new building,on the 10th of April, 2009, made the relationship a more permanent. The building is not only a testimony of WWF's long future in the country but also the acceptance from the Royal Government of its efforts and conrtibution in the country. The building was inaugurated jointly by honourable Lynpo Pema Gyamtsho, Minister of Agriculture and Carter Roberts, WWF US President.

3736 km2 of New achievement for WWF and Bhutan: The centennial celebration of Bhutan’s monarchy, in 2008, will not only add essence to the rich history of the country but also to the overall mankind and the animal kingdom.

Bhutan, though small, has always been leading in its conservation approaches in the region and afore mentioned celebration will add to its laurels with the country declaring yet another national park, the Wangchuck Centennial Park (WCP). more...

While conducting surveys for the new Wangchuck Centennial National Park, the survey team have come across two new species of bird that was not in the bird's list of Bhutan till now. The discovery of the Brandt's Mountain Finch (Leucosticte brandtii) and the Tibetan Blackbird (Turdus maximus) have now increased the number of bird species in Bhutan to 671.

A 3737 sq. km area in the northern frontier of Bhutan has been declared as a new national park by the Royal Government of Bhutan to commemorate the centenary celebration of the country's Monarchy. With altitudinal range of 2000m to 7200m above sea level, it conprises of significant conifer broadleaf forests and alpine scrubs. A team of experts from the the Department of Forests, Ministry of Agriculture has already initiated the preliminary survey of the park.

In a ceremony presided over by the organizing officials of National Environment Commission, WWF Bhutan, Royal Society for Protection of Nature and other governmental offices, the 2006-'07 Clean Dzongkhags Award was announced. The winners were the three districts of Paro, Sarpang and Trashigang. Initiated by WWF in 2001, the main aim of the award was to spread the message of healthy waste disposal and cleanliness and also to engage local administration bodies and people in taking care of their respective districts.

Dorji Norbu, the Trashigang Dzongda (district governor) receiving his share of the Award

During the recent survey of the Royal Manas National Park,

the surveyors from the Nature Conservation Division(NCD) recorded 4 new bird species for Bhutan. Sherub, an ornithologist from NCD, confirmed the new records as Pitta cyanea (Blue Pitta), Dicaeum erythrorynchos (Pale-billed Flowerpecker), Pericrocotus cinnamomeus (Small Minivet) and Prinia socialis (Ashy Prinia). The count of the bird species for Bhutan is now 674. Ashy Prinia (Prinia socialis)