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 wi