Conservation Action Grant
( Project BT0009 )
hile most nature conservation priorities in Bhutan are covered in the larger WWF projects, many other environmental issues do not receive the consideration of government planners either due to budgetary constraints or lack of awareness. WWF's Conservation Action Grant has been set up to respond to projects that address an urgent need and correspond to one or more of WWF's established conservation strategies, or to projects which would lose their conservation value if the decision to implement them is postponed.
The Grant has enabled the Royal Society for the Protection of Nature (RSPN) to organize amateur naturalist training programmes and grassroots conservation campaigns for students and the public. This grant also supported the development of Singye Karm, Sherubtse College's nature and trekking club, which promotes conservation through activities such as field trips, scientific research and various publications.
In 1993, the Grant funded a joint RSPN-Tourism Authority of Bhutan ecotourism training workshop, in which private agencies were instructed in the sustainable use of Bhutan's natural and cultural heritage. The meeting had a significant impact on Bhutan's tourism policy.
A grant supported an investigative journalist's research into markets for musk, bear gall bladder, and products of other endangered species. The findings of the research, which led into neighbouring Nepal and India, were used to develop an anti-poaching programme for Bhutan.
During 1994, a grant was awarded to develop educational materials combining conservation principles and Buddhist values. Other action grants have funded research on the golden langur, the takin, and fish fauna of Bhutan. More recently, in June 1995, a grant allowed the RSPN to organize a fuelwood consumption workshop.
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