Throughout the centuries, the Bhutanese have treasured their natural environment and have looked upon it as the source of all life. This traditional reverence for nature has delivered us into the twentieth century with our environment still richly intact.
Bhutan straddle two major bio-geographic realms, the Indo-Malayan realm consisting of the lowland rain forests of South and Southeast Asia and the Pale-arctic realm consisting of conifer forests and alpine meadows of northern Asia and Europe.
Ecosystem Diversity:
Bhutan ranks among the most bio-diverse country in the world and has an incredible range of habitat type due to her location. The warm southern part of Bhutan supports wildlife that is usually associated with a tropical-jungle climate. As one progresses north, the wildlife changes accordingly as the elevation increases. Bhutan falls under one of the ten global biodiversity ‘hotspots’ with many animal and plant species. Considering her size, Bhutan has the most diverse ecosystem at lease in Asia.
Forest Ecosystems:
Forests are Bhutan’s largest renewable resource and the most dominant land cover measuring 72.5 percent of Bhutan’s total landmass. Bhutan’s forests can be classified into three broad and distinct eco-floristic zones comprising of alpine forests (above 4000 meters above sea level, temperate forests (2000-4000 m) and sub-tropical forests (150-2000 m).
