Bhutan has a strong conservation ethos, with a Protected Area Network covering more than half (52%) the country. Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) is a valuable economic tool, based on international standards, that can measure and track natural resources and services from Protected Areas (PAs) and integrate them into national economic planning.

In 2024, ICIMOD supported the Bhutan Department of Forests and Park Services to carry out a pilot NCA exercise for Jigme Dorji National Park, one of 11 PAs in Bhutan. The total value of the flow of ecosystem services from the park was estimated at over 12 million USD per year, using data for 2017 and 2023. The exercise involved local and national stakeholders, including the Bhutan Statistics Bureau, Department for Environment and Climate Change, the National Land Commission and Bhutan for Life.

The experience from this pilot was integrated into national NCA guidelines for PAs, with technical assistance from ICIMOD. The Government has endorsed these guidelines, set to launch in 2025, and which will help to translate Bhutan’s Environmental-Economic Accounting National Implementation Plan into practice and should also help to attract green investments and conservation financing. ICIMOD and partners developed a briefing note on NCA to sensitise government stakeholders.