Environmental policy and administrative management

Pema Chojay Rotpa lies in the heart of Dangrey village under Changmey Chiwog with area coverage of 5.8 hectare by GPS reading. The chiwog have 196 active households with total land holdings of 191.73 acres of dry land (cultivated) and 90.11 acres of wet land (cultivated) as per the record maintained at the RNR centre. The primary causes of the slides in the area was due to wetland cultivation at the top in the past, existing of marshy land and continues water flow in the area from the farm road above. At the same time, frequent grazing of cattle lead to destruction of existing forest coverage with loosening of soil. The eroded areas down at Dangrey do have direct effect to settlements above including Government institutions with mass movement of soil. At the same time, settlements nearby will be affected with frequently blocking the vehicles movement from Rangjung to villages within the Gewog and to Trashigang amongst others. The permanent solutions cannot be taken as of now, despite of repeated efforts put in by MoAF and other stake holders due to lack of adequate funds. The communities focused will be Dangrey, Kharmey, pangthang and Chongkarmo under Changmey Chiwog. The farmers from those villages will be actively involved in land management program. The key environmental problems to be addressed are: a. To control and management of soil erosion/mass movement through plantations of soil binding species of bamboos and forestry seedling for stabilization b. To control excess surface run-off water to reduce velocity by construction of numerous bamboos check dams alternatively and c. Reduce or restrict cattle grazing to enable regeneration of planted seedlings through fencing. The Zambala land slide area at Challing covers 2 hectare of land with steep slope located just below the Gesar Ganapati lakhang, on the way to Thromang lakhang. The land slide occurred due to the leakage of main water supply pipe to Rangjung town with serious rate of water seepage in the surrounding areas. At the same time, a stream water flows just above the eroded areas throughout the year with lower water volumes in winter and vice versa in summer. This is the secondary causes of soil erosion to already affected areas downstream. In future, the affected areas may become serious and have direct impact to the environment in and around the vicinity with various disadvantages downstream. The Challing Chiwog has 80 active households with 351.31 acres of cultivated dry land. The slide also affects Shongphu Chiwog having 282 acres of dry land and 34.91 acres of wet land belonging to 97 households apart from some parts of Changmey Chiwog. The communities focused will be the public of Challing, Shongphu and Changmey Chiwogs respectively. The farmers from those villages will be actively involved in land management program. The key environmental problems to be addressed are: a) To control and management of soil erosion/mass movement through plantations of soil binding species of bamboos and forestry seedling for stabilization, b) To control excess surface run-off water flowing from the over head pipe, to reduce velocity by construction of numerous bamboos check dams alternatively, c) Reduce or restrict cattle grazing to enable regeneration of planted seedlings through fencing, and d) To divert stream flowing in from above to other suitable direction. Lastly, the third area selected was at Changmey, located on the way to Yobinang village. The purpose for selecting the site was to protect drinking water source for Changmey Chiwog, which was considered to be troublesome. The water source caters the villagers with clean drinking water and acts as a tributary for the main stream contributing to generation of electricity from mini hydro power plant stationed at Rangjung. The primary location of the source was just below the U-shaped farm road. In summer, the entire volume of rain water from the farm road directly flows into the water source area and causes contamination with higher risks of soil erosion. In future, the water source may not exist any longer leading to environment degradation and retard continuous water flow for economic purposes. The site was mainly targeted for the benefits for the people of Changmey and Rangjung villages. The farmers from those villages will be actively involved in any activities involved in water source protection. The key environmental problem to be addressed: a) To manage soil erosion through diversion of rain water flowing in from the farm road to other suitable location. This can be achieved through filling of the farm road with soils and construction of appropriate concrete channels to drain out water. The main objective of the project is to : 1. Rehabilitation of eroded landscape and improve productivity 2. Erosion control through water diversion and plantations 3. Improvement of drainage and sanitation of drinking water sources benefiting 200 households and Changmey Primary School

Bhutan