According to a report in the national newspaper Kuensel, the project, jointly launched by the Bhutan Ecological Society (BES) and the Bhutan Foundation, aims to generate some income for local farmers by these plantations.

“By cultivating high-value trees in lands that have been left fallow, the project will help improve the livelihoods of communities while nurturing the environment,” Pem Lama, the director of the BES, was quoted as saying by Kuensel.

Currently, 3.7 percent of Bhutan’s total land cover is arable. Of this, Lama said, an estimated 29 percent, close to 54,600 acres, are fallow due to human-wildlife conflict, lack of adequate water supply, and lack of access to markets.

Under the project, local farmers will be distributed with tree samplings of plums, pears, walnuts, and peaches across all 20 districts of the country. The distribution will be based on the agroecological zones of the areas.