Bhutan for Life: Paying to Protect Half a Country, Forever

Bhutan for Life is a Project Finance for Permanence deal between the Royal Government of Bhutan, WWF, and international donors that locks in long-term funding for the country's ten national parks, sanctuaries and biological corridors. Announced in November 2017, the arrangement combines a donor-backed fund with rising annual contributions from Bhutan's own government, so the state gradually takes over full funding as donor support tapers off over roughly 14 years. The deal secures management of land that makes up 51% of the country — the highest share of protected territory in Asia — home to tigers, snow leopards, and red pandas, in a nation whose forests already absorb more carbon than it emits.