Publication: Bhutan Forest Note: Pathways for Sustainable Forest Management and Socio-equitable Economic Development
Loading...
Published
2019-07-01
ISSN
Date
2019-07-10
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
The Bhutan Forest Note articulates opportunities for supporting Bhutan's sustainable development aspirations, including its constitutional commitment to maintain at least 60 percent of the country's land area under forest cover and to better respond or prepare for vulnerabilities such as climate change and natural disasters. The note presents a forward-looking business case for Bhutan to support an increase in forest utilization without jeopardizing the integrity of forest and non-forest ecosystems. The business case is based on an analysis of challenges and opportunities for making the forestry sector a dynamic and effective contributor to Bhutan's gross national happiness. The note is intended to serve as a basis for discussions with the government and other partners to work together on making the identified opportunities a reality. The opportunities are sensitive and responsive to Bhutan's uniqueness with regard to size, geography, and focus on forest conservation. The Note is a deliverable under the World Bank`s Forest Action Plan FY16-20.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2019. Bhutan Forest Note: Pathways for Sustainable Forest Management and Socio-equitable Economic Development. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32047 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Republic of Moldova Forest Policy Note(Washington, DC, 2014-12-19)This forest policy note (FPN) offers an outside view of the Moldovan forestry sector, provides some strategic guidance to help define sector goals, and identifies opportunities for consideration in the continued development of the sector and for the implementation of the Moldova and World Bank (WB) country partnership strategy (CPS). This study is based on a number of short visits to Moldova and on a number of background studies undertaken during the implementation of both phases of the European neighborhood and partnership instrument (ENPI) east countries, forest law enforcement and governance (FLEG) program. The WB CPS for Moldova recognizes that the forestry sector plays an important role for competitiveness and climate change but has not received the attention it deserves. This FPN builds on previous work within the forestry sector. It aims to inform the WB project formulation process and the forestry sector by reviewing the sector and highlighting the main policy issues and identifying possible actions.Publication A Legal and Institutional Framework for Sustainable Management of Forest Resources in Southern Sudan : Policy note(World Bank, 2010-02-01)This policy note was prepared in response to a request from the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) for World Bank assistance in developing legislative and institutional policies and strategies that will take advantage of the potential of the region's forest resources to contribute to poverty alleviation, food security, sustainable agriculture, economic growth, and to protection of forest-related environmental services such as climate, biodiversity, water, and wildlife resources. The note is intended to: (a) take stock of the current situation on the ground, including identifying the legislative, institutional, governance, and policy reforms needed to create an enabling environment for both public and private-sector investment. This should help in contributing to improved understanding of the currently underutilized potential of Southern Sudan's forest resources; (b) analyze what has worked and what has not worked prior to and since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA); and (c) suggest priority solutions and actions towards revitalizing the forestry sector. Key policy issues addressed in this note include: 1) strengthening forest resource information and knowledge base; 2) developing a coherent legislative and policy framework, organizational structure, and capacity for the sector; 3) promoting participatory forest and woodland management; 4) enabling forest-based industries to thrive; 5) creating an enabling environment for attracting private-sector investment; 6) protecting and enhancing forest-related environmental services; 7) using technical approaches to conservation and sustainable management of forest resources; and 8) introducing predictable and sustainable long-term financing mechanisms.Publication Assessing the Environmental, Forest, and Other Natural Resource Aspects of Development Policy Lending(Washington, DC, 2008)The operations policy on Development Policy Lending (DPL), approved by the Board in August 2004, requires that the Bank systematically analyze whether specific country policies supported by an operation are likely to have "significant effects" on the country's environment, forests, and other natural resources. The implicit objective behind this requirement is to ensure that there is adequate capacity in the country to deal with adverse effects on the environment, forests, and other natural resources that the policies could trigger, even at the program design stage. DPL operations are associated with a whole array of policies such as macro policy reforms, fiscal policies, and specific sectoral policies, particularly in key sectors such as agriculture, health and education, energy, etc. In some cases, the operation may deal directly with reforms in certain environmentally sensitive sectors such as energy, transport, water and sanitation, agriculture, and forestry. In these cases, there is an obvious need for careful analysis of environmental, natural resource, and forestry impacts. In other cases, such as public sector reform and governance, there is less potential for likely significant impacts on the natural environment and natural resources. The toolkit is designed to be concise and user-friendly. It consists of three specific modules. The first module identifies relevant transmission channels through which the proposed reform would have a likely effect on the identified environmental, forest, and other natural resource priorities. The second module provides assistance in identifying key environmental issues in the country, regions, or sectors likely to be influenced by the DPL program. The third module presents different tools and methodologies for rapid assessment of the likely significant effects of each reform.Publication Using Forests to Enhance Resilience to Climate Change : What Do We Know About How Forests Can Contribute to Adaptation?(Washington, DC, 2012-11)The global dialogue surrounding the United Nations framework convention for climate change has focused on two strategies for addressing challenges associated with climate change: (1) mitigation (reducing the accumulation of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere); and (2) adaptation (reducing the vulnerability of societies and ecosystems to the impacts of climate change). Forests feature in both of these strategies. The role of forests as stores of carbon and therefore in reducing GHG emissions has been captured in the efforts associated with reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation and enhancing carbon stocks (REDD+). The report points to how forests will respond to climate change, and advocates strengthening the ability of institutions to deliver on sustainable forest management, which will help with the resilience of forest systems. This working paper presents a review of relevant work on forests and the services, and the use of forests and trees in adaptation. The paper starts with a brief discussion about climate change. It also provides a conceptualization of how to link forest services with their use for adaptation (more specifically, ecosystem-based adaptation). This report is structured as follows: chapter one gives introduction; chapter two focuses on climate change; chapter three presents vulnerability and climate change adaptation; chapter four introduces the ecosystem-based adaptation; chapter five deals with forests and adaptation; and chapter six gives conclusions and way forward.Publication Note on Green Growth for Bhutan(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-07-31)Bhutan has recently made significant progress in sustaining economic growth and reducing poverty. Bhutan also has valuable deposits of primary materials including dolomite, lime stone, gypsum, quartzite, stone, and marble, which are useful for fabrication of other materials. Thus, a significant part of Bhutan's current and prospective economic gains come from use of natural resources called, green sectors. The basic message in this note is that Bhutan starts from a solid base in terms of green growth, with additional opportunities for meeting its development goals and overcoming the above mentioned challenges on the basis of its natural resource endowment. However, realizing those opportunities and meeting those challenges will require focusing on the economic contribution from sustainable use of those natural resources, in addition to conservation of the environment. It will also require complementary measures, using the economic surplus (or as economists refer to it, rent) from sustainable natural resource use to help diversify economic activity and address institutional and other constraints. A more comprehensive view of green growth emphasizes sustainable use of natural capital, along with managing environmental risks cost-effectively and in an institutionally sound manner to limit risks to human health and of irreversible degradation of the natural environment. In this context, green growth needs to balance conservation with sustainable economic use of all resources to meet the needs of the present, and maintain opportunities for the future. The note touches upon issues of inclusion where possible but not in a systematic and comprehensive manner. The purpose of the note is to provide food for thought in ongoing discussion of growth strategies for Bhutan, and how green growth ideas may contribute to that discussion.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.Publication Argentina Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11)The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.Publication World Bank Annual Report 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-25)This annual report, which covers the period from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, has been prepared by the Executive Directors of both the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA)—collectively known as the World Bank—in accordance with the respective bylaws of the two institutions. Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, has submitted this report, together with the accompanying administrative budgets and audited financial statements, to the Board of Governors.Publication Egypt Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11-08)This Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores the challenges and opportunities of improving the alignment of Egypt’s development goals with its climate ambition. The CCDR offers a set of policy options and investment opportunities that, if implemented within five years, can deliver short-term benefits in selected sectors while also creating momentum toward important long-term benefits. The options identified in this report provide: Cost-effective adaptation approaches to reduce the negative impacts of climate change; Policy interventions to improve efficiency in the use of natural resources, and complement the creation of fiscal space to finance projects that reduce the vulnerability of people and the economy to climate shocks; Actions that can help avoid carbon lock-in through low-cost policy changes; Interventions to strengthen the country’s competitiveness while reducing negative externalities (such as pollution) and incentivize Egypt’s move towards a low carbon growth path in a manner consistent with its development objectives. Overall, the report identifies opportunities to reduce inefficiencies, manage risk, and strengthen the foundation for increased private sector participation.Publication Digital Opportunities in African Businesses(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-05-16)Adoption of digital technologies is widely acknowledged to boost productivity and employment, stimulate investment, and promote growth and development. Africa has already benefited from a rapid diffusion of information and communications technology, characterized by the widespread adoption of mobile phones. However, access to and use of digital technology among firms is uneven in the region, varying not just among countries but also within them. Consequently, African businesses may not be reaping the full potential benefits offered by ongoing improvements in digital infrastructure. Using rich datasets, “Digital Opportunities in African Businesses” offers a new understanding of the region’s incomplete digitalization—namely, shortfalls in the adoption and effective use of digital technology by firms to perform productive tasks. The research presented here also highlights the challenges in addressing incomplete digitalization, finding that the cost of machinery, equipment, and software, as well as the cost of connectivity to the internet, is significantly more expensive in Africa than elsewhere. “Digital Opportunities in African Businesses” outlines ways in which the private sector, with support from policy makers, international institutions, and regulators, can help bring down these costs, stimulating more widespread digitalization of the region’s firms, thereby boosting productivity and, by extension, economic development. This book will be relevant to anyone with an interest in furthering digitalization across Africa.