Mr Chimi Rinzin assumed the role of Country Director, WWF-Bhutan from August 1, 2022. As a Country Director, he works to advance the conservation program and leadership in partnership with community, CSO, NGO, and government agencies. He has Masters in MSC. Natural Resource Management from Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand, and is passionate about Environment and Natural Resource Management, Sustainable Development, and Climate Change. Mr Rinzin has over 20 years of work experiences with demonstrated leadership in organization management and growth, policy, program and portfolio development, resource mobilization and execution with a clear focus on achieving the results. He holds strong network and partnership with government agencies, CSOs and development partners.

Prior to joining WWF-Bhutan, he served as a Portfolio Specialist, Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction at UNDP Bhutan

 

 

Chimi Rinzin

Country Director

 

Ms Kezang Yangden is the Conservation Director at WWF-Bhutan. Before joining WWF, she worked with the Department of Forests and Park Services, Royal Government of Bhutan since 2008, where she led the design and execution of Bhutan's National Forest Inventory (NFI), overseeing a decade long exercise that included resource mobilization, field surveys, and data analysis. She managed a team of coordinators and 60 field crew, contributing to Bhutan’s first forest carbon assessment, developing biomass models for 20 tree species, and establishing the country’s first nation-wide tree-ring dataset. Additionally, together with the team and experts, she institutionalized the NFI system with geo-referenced sampling, digital data loggers, and enhanced analysis capabilities, significantly improving the efficiency and sustainability of Bhutan's forest resource assessments. She also contributed to the development and implementation of the REDD+ (Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Degradation) readiness program in Bhutan.

In 2019, she joined WWF-Bhutan as the Climate and Energy Program Specialist and took up her current position in 2022. With over 15 years of experience in the fields of environment and conservation, she has extensive expertise in sustainable forest management, forest carbon, conservation planning, and climate action.

Ms Kezang holds a master’s degree in environmental management from Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and master’s degree in forestry from Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, Dehradun, India.

 

 

Kezang Yangden

Conservation Director

Mr Pema Thinley is the Operations Director at WWF-Bhutan. He joined WWF in 2019 as the Accredited Entity Coordinator for Green Climate Fund/Bhutan for Life and became the Operations Director in 2021. Prior to joinging WWF, Mr Thinley served as the Deputy Chief Planning Officer for the Policy and Planning Division, Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, Royal Government of Bhutan. As a civil servant he managed and worked on various multilateral projects funded by the EU, WWF, UNDP, FAO, IFAD, GEF and GCF. He has experiences with demonstrated history of working in areas of strategic planning, public policy, development management, rural and agriculture development, project management and monitoring and evaluation. He holds Master of Philosophy in Policy Studies, with specialization in Sustainable Development, from the School of Graduate Studies, University of New Brunswick, Canada. He is a recipient of the National Order of Merit Bronze from His Majesty King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck for his dedicated service to the nation. He is a strong community and social services professional who enjoys volunteering, reading, trekking, sports and music.

 

 

Pema Thinley

Operations Director

Ms Kinley Wangmo is the Senior Manager for Communications and Marketing at WWF-Bhutan. She joined WWF in August 2024. Kinley has over 20 years of experience in Strategic communications, advocacy and marketing. She started her career as a reporter with Kuensel in 2004 and resigned as the K2 Editor in 2014. Before joining WWF-Bhutan, she worked with the UN for four years as communications specialist with WFP Bhutan, WFP Pacific, and UNDP Bhutan. Kinley worked as a media consultant, freelance journalist, and photographer prior to joining the UN. She has a Master of Arts (Journalism) degree from the University of Queensland, Australia.

 

 

Kinley Wangmo

Senior Manager for Communications and Marketing

Mr Karma Tenzin is the Manager for Monitoring, Evaluation and Safeguards (MES) at WWF-Bhutan. He is an environmental and social safeguards practitioner with over 15 years of experience in results-based management (RBM), strategic planning, and safeguard frameworks. As the lead for RBM and Safeguards at WWF-Bhutan, he oversees quality assurance of projects, strategic alignment and ensures compliance with environmental and social standards, focusing on risk management, stakeholder engagement, and sustainability. Prior to joining WWF, Karma served as a civil servant for over 11 years, serving the Royal Government of Bhutan through his leadership roles as District Agriculture Officer in Punakha, Zhemgang, and Wangdue Phodrang. He led the development and implementation of M&E systems for a number of donor-funded projects. His experience spans financial management, stakeholder engagement, and capacity building. With a master’s in integrated water management and a bachelor’s in agriculture, Karma aligns conservation work with global sustainable development goals, navigating environmental challenges while empowering communities.

 

 

Karma Tenzin

RBM & Safeguards Lead

Mr Tshering Penjor is the People and Culture Officer at WWF-Bhutan. He has over a decade-long experience in Human Capital Management. He is a dedicated Human Resources (HR) professional catalyzing HR strategy into organizational outcomes, leveraging human capital opportunities, and fostering positive workplace cultures. Mr Tshering continuously seek opportunities to apply his HR expertise to contribute in promoting dynamic teams emphasizing diversity and inclusion to build effective teams, and facilitating collaboration across all organizational levels. Before joining WWF in 2023, Mr Tshering held HR roles at Druk Holding and Investments, the National Pension and Provident Fund, Financial Institutions Training Institute, and Druk Green Power Corporation Limited. Mr Tshering has a Bachelor of Business Administration (Major in HR) degree from Gedu College of Business Studies, Bhutan. Mr Tshering is an avid photographer and enjoys archery, Bhutan’s national sport.

 

 

Tshering Penjor

People and Culture Officer