Overview

BTFEC is the world’s first environmental trust fund, established in 1991 as a collaborative venture between the Royal Government of Bhutan, bilateral and multilateral partners. BTFEC was granted the Royal Charter in 1996, which was updated in 2021 “keeping the present needs and ensure relevance and role of BTFEC to meet the future challenges” BTFEC management is governed by a high-level Board of Trustees, while the day-to-day business is conducted through a small Secretariat. Today, it is an effective conservation grant-making organisation, autonomous of the government with the endowment fund reaching US$75 million as of June 2023. Since inception, BTFEC supported over 239 projects amounting to over US$25 million.