In Bhutan, mountains, rivers and forests are revered both culturally and spiritually, HRH Princess Chimi Yangzom Wangchuck explained, adding that this reverence shaped the country’s conservation approach.
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“Our glaciers, rivers, forests, springs and communities are all connected,” she told Eco-Business. “Healthy forests and watersheds help regulate water, protect soils, reduce erosion and sustain springs. But we also need to understand and prepare for the risks that are emerging higher in the mountains.”
The changes are already being felt on the ground. The Princess noted that nearly 2,000 water sources in Bhutan are drying up, while forest fires affected almost 18,000 hectares between 2021 and 2024. Retreating glaciers and increasingly erratic rainfall are also adding further pressure to the country’s water security.
That interconnectedness was brought into stark focus by the glacial collapse and flash floods along the Nepal-China border on 26 August, underscoring how hazards emerging high in the Himalayas can affect communities downstream. Although neighbouring Bhutan was not directly affected, the disaster renewed calls for cross-border cooperation to manage shared climate risks across the region.
“The recent events in the Himalayas remind us that cooperation across borders is increasingly important,” the Princess said. “Rivers do not stop at political boundaries, and neither do climate risks.”
“We need healthy forests and ecosystems, but we also need better science, preparedness, resilient infrastructure and stronger cooperation across the Himalayas,” she continued.
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For Bhutan, conservation did not begin as a response to the climate crisis. It comes from a deeper understanding that our long-term security, prosperity and wellbeing depend on the health of our natural environment.
HRH Princess Chimi Yangzom Wangchuck, Bhutan
Restore Bhutan
Against this backdrop, the South Asian country’s Restore Bhutan, a national initiative to rehabilitate 50,000 hectares of degraded forests, farmlands and urban landscapes by 2030, is gaining international attention. Launched in 2025, the programme links landscape recovery with water security, biodiversity, climate resilience and rural livelihoods.
“Through Restore Bhutan, we are not simply planting trees,” the Princess said. “We are restoring degraded forests, watersheds and springsheds, while also helping bring degraded agricultural land back into productive use through fruit trees and agroforestry.”
The initiative has made Bhutan one of 15 finalists for the 2026 Earthshot Prize. The Earthshot Prize, founded by HRH Prince William of the British royal family and inspired by US President John F Kennedy’s 1962 “moonshot” speech, is a global environmental prize that seeks to find and scale solutions to protect and restore the planet by 2030.
Bhutan is one of five Asian finalists and the only contender from the region in the Protect & Restore Nature category. Selected from nearly 7,000 nominations across 169 countries, the finalists will compete for five awards to be announced in Mumbai on 17 November.
For the Princess, the Earthshot recognition offers a chance not only to expand restoration at home, but also to share Bhutan’s approach with other forest-rich and climate-vulnerable countries.
“Being recognised as an Earthshot Prize Finalist gives us an opportunity to scale government-led, community-driven conservation and share Bhutan’s experience with other forest-rich, climate-vulnerable nations,” she said.
Bhutan’s conservation model is rooted in its philosophy of Gross National Happiness, which recognises the health of the environment as integral to the wellbeing of its people. Image: Earthshot Prize
Gross National Happiness
Bhutan’s restoration ambitions build on a conservation philosophy developed over decades.
Under its fourth monarch, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, environmental protection became one of the four pillars of the country’s Gross National Happiness.
“Through the philosophy of Gross National Happiness, Bhutan recognised that development cannot be measured by economic growth alone. The wellbeing of our people is inseparable from the health of our environment, our communities and our economy,” the Princess explained.
The Constitution requires Bhutan to retain at least 60 per cent of forest cover. It now has nearly 70 per cent cover, while 52 per cent of its land is protected. The kingdom is also widely described as the world’s first carbon-negative nation.
“For generations, Bhutanese have regarded our forests, mountains, rivers and wildlife not simply as resources, but as part of our lives and something we have a responsibility to conserve and protect,” she said.
“Conservation is not something we do after development,” she added. “It is part of how we understand sustainable development itself.”
Bhutan’s forests play a critical role in protecting watersheds, regulating water flows and sustaining springs. Image: Earthshot Prize
Where forests become water security
Much of Bhutan’s water originates in the mountains through rainfall, snow, glaciers, springs and streams before sustaining farms, towns and communities downstream. That makes the condition of its forests and watersheds central to water security.
“We cannot really look at forest conservation and water policy as separate issues,” the Princess said. “A forest is not simply a collection of trees. It is part of a living landscape that includes soil, streams, springs, biodiversity and the communities that depend on them.”
In Yakpugang Community Forest in Mongar, local communities protect the forest that helps supply water to the town and its Regional Hospital. A Payment for Ecosystem Services programme allows those who depend on the water to help fund its protection, while springshed management has helped restore drying springs.
“That is where forest conservation becomes water security in practice: when we protect and restore the landscape, we are also protecting the natural systems that secure water for people.”
Bhutan’s rivers flow into the wider Brahmaputra basin, linking the kingdom’s mountain ecosystems with communities far beyond its borders. Princess Chimi Yangzom Wangchuck says this makes cooperation across the Himalayas increasingly important. Image: Earthshot Prize
A regional public good
The benefits of these ecosystems reach beyond Bhutan.
Its forests and watersheds help safeguard freshwater systems supporting 1.6 billion people across South Asia, according to the Earthshot Prize, while the ecosystem services its landscapes provide are valued at US$14.5 billion a year.
“I believe Bhutan’s forests provide benefits that extend well beyond our borders,” the Princess said. “They are part of the larger Himalayan ecosystem, and what happens in these mountains has consequences downstream.”
“We protect our forests because they are fundamental to our own wellbeing, but in doing so, we also provide benefits that are shared by the region and the world,” she said. “Those wider benefits should be recognised and supported.”
Conservation has to work for people
For Bhutan, protecting those landscapes cannot mean putting development on hold. Hydropower, tourism and agriculture are vital to the economy, the Princess said, but all depend on healthy forests, rivers, watersheds and soils.
Community-led programmes give local people a role in managing forests and other natural areas, while allowing them to benefit through cleaner water, healthier land and income from sustainable resource use.
“The key principle is that conservation should be pursued with people, rather than at their expense,” she said.
Princess Chimi Yangzom Wangchuck says the initiative is about more than planting trees, with restoration focused on watersheds, springsheds, productive land and community stewardship. Image: Earthshot Prize
“Restoration cannot belong to one institution or one group of people. It has to be something we do together. Nature takes time to recover, and people need to stay involved.”
For the Princess, success is not simply a question of hectares restored.
“Are springs recovering? Is water becoming more reliable? Are forests becoming healthier? Is biodiversity returning?” she said. “And, most importantly, are communities benefiting and taking ownership of the restored landscapes?”
“The real question is not simply, ‘How many trees did we plant?’ It is, ‘What changed because we invested in this landscape?’”
