The 500th community forest was handed over to Zamtog village in Geneykha Gewog under Thimphu, yesterday. The 136-acre Domche Drongdey Nagtsel was handed over by the Swiss Assistant State Secretary, Beat Nobs, to 23 households of Zamtog.
The community forest was developed after the Participatory Forestry Management Project was implemented with funds from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation or SDC.
The community was gifted a power chainsaw by the SDC, as well. A seed money of Nu. 5,000 was also given to community.
Today, Bhutan has 57,300 hectares of area as community forests. Community forestry was first initiated in 1997. More than 22,000 households are involved in the initiative across the country.
