September 10, 2025
THIMPHU – Wildlife and forest-related offences recorded in the Forest Information Reporting and Monitoring System (FIRMS) dropped sharply in 2024, falling to 749 cases from 1,295 the previous year—a 42 percent decline. The drop extends a four-year slide since the pandemic peak of 1,917 cases in 2020.
Officials caution, however, that the figures reflect only detected cases. Undetected poaching and trafficking are believed to remain higher, particularly in remote and inaccessible areas.
Illegal timber extraction continues to dominate Bhutan’s wildlife-crime landscape. Of the 749 cases logged last year, 488—nearly two-thirds—were linked to timber. Aquatic and fishing offences followed with 127 cases, while non-wood forest product (NWFP) violations stood at 42. Land-related offences were 35, timber misuse 24, poaching 20, and forest-fire offences 13.
The 2024 pattern mirrors trends seen since 2020: timber, fisheries, and NWFPs account for most offences, while poaching incidents, though fewer in number, carry far greater ecological risks.
Declines were recorded across nearly all categories. Illegal timber cases dropped 24 percent (640 in 2023 to 488 in 2024). Aquatic and fishing offences fell by 46 percent (234 to 127), and NWFP violations plunged 86 percent (306 to 42). Poaching detections decreased from 29 to 20, while land-related offences dipped from 44 to 35. Timber misuse held steady at 24 cases, and forest-fire offences eased slightly from 18 to 13. ed Nu 20.96 million, about 12 percent less than the Nu 23.80 million collected in 2023. Illegal timber alone accounted for Nu 15.60 million—nearly three-quarters of all fines. Other major contributions came from timber misuse (Nu 1.38M), NWFP offences (Nu 1.24M), aquatic and fishing offences (Nu 1.18M), land-related offences (Nu 0.93M), poaching (Nu 0.45M), and forest-fire violations (Nu 0.18M).
Over the five-year period 2020–2024, fines credited to government revenue reached about Nu 117.3 million, with illegal timber consistently dominating collections.
Poaching, though numerically small, remains ecologically damaging. Species targeted in 2024 included the tiger (Panthera tigris tigris), sambar (Rusa unicolor), Himalayan black bear (Ursus thibetanus), wild pig (Sus scrofa), hornet (Vespa mandarinia), monal pheasant (Lophophorus impejanus), leopard (Panthera pardus), and serow (Capricornis crispus). Offenders were implicated across 15 dzongkhags, with the highest detections in Chhukha, followed by Mongar and Wangdue Phodrang.
Bhutan’s wildlife crime profile echoes global patterns. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s World Wildlife Crime Report 2024 highlights that between 2015 and 2021, seizure records implicated about 4,000 species—3,250 of them listed under CITES—across 162 countries. In that period, authorities intercepted an estimated 13 million individual items and over 16,000 tonnes of contraband.
The report notes that the trade feeds diverse sectors, from food and medicine to live animal and luxury markets, and that actual trafficking far exceeds recorded seizures. Timber and fisheries are flagged worldwide as areas with the largest evidence gaps—mirroring Bhutan’s own data.
Domestically, the Department of Forests and Park Services (DoFPS) has rolled out multiple measures to strengthen detection and prosecution. SMART patrolling has been in use since March 2020, with the latest v6 model deployed in July 2025. SMART Connect, enabling real-time patrol tracking, will roll out nationally from late September.
The department is also investing in drone and AI-enabled surveillance, forensic evidence capacity, and frontline training in investigation and legal documentation. Inter-agency coordination through the National Wildlife Crime Control Committee—linking the Royal Bhutan Police, Customs, the Office of the Attorney General, the Judiciary, the Royal Bhutan Army, and the Legal Service Division—has focused on joint operations, intelligence sharing, and plugging procedural gaps.
Community involvement remains critical. DoFPS plans to expand Quick Response Teams, revive informant reward systems in hotspot gewogs, and partner with conservation organisations to raise awareness in vulnerable areas.
All these efforts feed into the National Zero Poaching Strategy 2025–2029. Though launched just two months ago, groundwork is already underway, with most programmes funded from the 2025–2026 fiscal year.