The 1st Bhutan National workshop on ‘The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB)’ is underway at the Hotel Migmar, Thimphu. His Excellency Lyonpo Yeshey Dorji, the Minister for Agriculture and Forests, graced the opening session.

TEEB is an international initiative that provides evidence of economic and social benefits of ecosystem services and biodiversity, consequently, highlighting the tremendous costs of their loss and degradation. Bhutan has expressed interest to be part of a TEEB project “Reflecting the Value of Ecosystems and Biodiversity in Policymaking”.

The main objective of the three days workshop is to identify the relevant stakeholder to implement the project, solicit policy priorities and identify an institution to undertake technical components of the study.

More than 25 officials from UNEP-TEEB office, WWF, DGPC, DoRE, NEC, MoF and MoAF are attending the workshop.

The workshop is jointly organised by Ministry of Agriculture and Forests and UNEP-TEEB Office. The project is financially supported by the European Commission.