politics
Department of Forests and Park Services
The Department of Forests and Park Services (DoFPS) is the Bhutanese government agency responsible for protecting, conserving and managing the country's forests, wildlife and protected areas. Founded in 1952 and placed under the agriculture ministry in the early 1980s, it administers the constitutional requirement that at least 60 per cent of Bhutan's land remain under forest cover, and manages the national parks and biological corridors that cover more than half the country.
The Department of Forests and Park Services (DoFPS) is the agency of the Royal Government of Bhutan responsible for the protection, conservation, sustainable management and utilisation of the country's forests, soils, water resources, wildlife and biodiversity. It sits within the ministry responsible for agriculture and forests and administers Bhutan's extensive system of protected areas.[1]
Founded in 1952, the department was brought under the Ministry of Agriculture during a reorganisation in the early 1980s. Its work is central to Bhutan's international reputation for conservation: the country is one of the few that is carbon-negative, a status that rests on its very high forest cover and the protected-area network the DoFPS manages.[2]
Mandate
A defining responsibility of the DoFPS is to uphold the requirement, written into the Constitution of Bhutan, that a minimum of 60 per cent of the country's land area be maintained under forest cover for all time. To this end it develops and implements forestry programmes, prepares management plans for forests and wildlife under the Forest and Nature Conservation Act, and issues forestry clearances for development that affects forest resources.[1] Bhutan's protected areas — including Jigme Dorji National Park and Royal Manas National Park — and the biological corridors linking them fall under its conservation remit.
Structure
The department operates through a set of functional divisions, including the Forest Protection and Enforcement Division, the Social Forestry and Extension Division, the Forest Resources Management Division, the Watershed Management Division and the Nature Conservation Division, together with field offices at the divisional and park level.[3] Through these it combines enforcement, community forestry, scientific management and protected-area administration in support of Bhutan's conservation commitments.
FSC forest-certification pilot (2026)
On 26 May 2026 the Department of Forests and Park Services, with the Bhutan Ecological Society, launched an inception workshop for a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) pilot certification programme — the department’s first engagement with internationally recognised commercial forest certification. Backed by USD 4.7 million from the Rural Natural Resources (RNR) Jobs programme, the pilot aims to raise the market value of Bhutanese timber through certification. (Source: The Bhutanese, 30 May 2026.)
See also
References
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