Conservation, development and stakeholder relations in Bhutanese protected area management

ABSTRACT

Conservation and development initiatives have been widely promoted in protected areas (PAs) in developing countries despite ongoing challenges inherent in their capacity to protected biodiversity and alleviate poverty. Bhutan’s vast PA network is becoming increasingly affected by the rapid expansion of conservation and development activities. This paper examines important challenges that PA stakeholders face during socio-political change, and assess how these challenges might impact stakeholder relations in a remote Asian PA. Multiple methods were used to explore the gap between expectations and delivery of two development projects and provide insights through issues of local capacity, indigenous culture and incompatible priorities. Perceived impacts indicated flaws in project design, strong local cultural norms yet weak local ownership, trust and accountability concerns, tensions between modernization and traditional lifestyles, and prospective trade-offs. Suggestions for stronger projects and PA management include having greater internal leadership, adopting realistic timelines, and openly negotiating trade-offs and hard choices.

KEYWORDS:

• Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary
• Bhutan
• conservation and development
• protected areas
• stakeholder relations
• indigenous peoples

Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to all who participated in this research, particularly community members from Merak, Sakteng and Joenkhar. Special thanks to Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary, Nature Recreation and Ecotourism Division, and Tourism Council of Bhutan for their tremendous assistance and contributions. Fieldwork for this study was funded in part by the University of Waterloo.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.