Land use change in rural Bhutan – Implications for forest carbon stocks and climate change mitigation

Land use in Bhutan has undergone substantial change over the past several decades. Forest cover increased by about 1100 km² and shrubland by about 2000 km² during the 25-year period to 2020, mostly at the expense of agricultural land. Using participatory rural appraisal techniques to assess perceptions of stakeholders on the extent and direction of land use changes and the impacts on forests, revealed that there have been major changes to farming systems in recent decades. Most are associated with changed animal husbandry practices (large reduction in sheep and cattle numbers and shift from open range grazing of local cattle breeds to stall feeding of improved breeds), cessation of shifting cultivation, abandonment of agricultural land and less intensive agricultural practices. An estimated 50–400 ha per village of abandoned grazing land, shifting cultivation areas and other state reserve forest lands are now converting to shrublands and forests. There is a possibility of bringing some or all of this land under Community Forestry management with the explicit aim of increasing forest biomass and carbon sequestration. If each of the existing 839 community forests across Bhutan is increased by about 50 ha, an additional 0.12 million MgCO 2 could be sequestered annually, generating a potential annual revenue of about $US 1.2 million if the additional carbon could be sold into the carbon market. • Analysis of land use change in Bhutan over a 25-year period was carried out using a series of land use/land cover surveys. • Trends in, extent of and drivers of land use change were assessed based on local people’s perceptions. • Forests and shrublands are increasing in area due to changed farming practices, outmigration and land abandonment. • Incorporating regenerating forests into community forests could generate carbon revenue of $US 1.2 million/year.