Zhemgang has remained rich in biodiversity due to less developmental activities taking place in the Dzongkhag. This has helped to maintain 94.17% of the land area under forest cover. Bhutan is one of the 13 Tiger range countries and it has recorded 103 individuals during the national tiger survey in 2015. Zhemgang has recorded 17 individuals of tiger becoming home for highest numbers of tigers outside the protected areas. Thus, Zhemgang has become the core of the tiger landscape in Bhutan but there are an equal number of human wildlife conflicts and livestock depredation cases by tiger and other predators. In 2018, a single tiger depredated 20 numbers of livestock of which 15 were killed on the spot and five left injured. Though not evident as of today, it is likely that people will resort to lethal means to protect their life and property. In the process, retaliation actions can be expected and some important wildlife species including tigers will be affected.
Zhemgang is ranked as the second highest poverty rate in the country next to Dagana Dzongkhag. This has led to the people?s traditional dependency on natural resources, overlapping of habitat for wildlife and livestock, sparse settlement pattern, poor livestock herding practices leading to human wildlife conflicts which is becoming a serious issue in Zhemgang. Agricultural lands are left fallow due to loss of crop damage by the wild animals and many instances remain unrecorded in absence of any incentives. This is proving to be a scary situation as rural people are losing huge income and if alternative measures are not tackled in a timely manner it will have a severe negative impact in near future. Venturing into tea cultivation is seen as the best option to mitigate the human wildlife conflict and improve the livelihood of the local people within a short span of time. The project will have benefits in both environmental conservation and socio-economic development.
This project will contribute in fulfilling the strategic priorities for SGP Operational Phase 7 such as Community-based conservation of threatened ecosystem and species, sustainable agriculture and food security, community based adaptation and knowledge management, Improve livelihood through diversification of food production, value chain management practices, build community capacity to formulate by-laws and implement projects.