Conservation Impact

Monitoring Mountain Mammalian Diversity (M3D) will establish the first landscape-scale camera trap network across the Paro-Thimphu basin.

Building on an initial pilot study that documented 20 mammal species, the project will expand monitoring to approximately 150 camera trap stations covering around 1,500 km² of mountain habitat. Cameras will be deployed across the full elevation gradient, from lowland forests to alpine environments.

Over the three-year project, the team aims to:

Produce the first comprehensive photographic inventory of mammals across the landscape
- Estimate occupancy and relative abundance for key species
- Map species distributions across different elevation zones
- Identify important wildlife corridors and conflict hotspots
- Assess the vulnerability of Himalayan mammals to climate change
- Establish a long-term monitoring framework for Bhutan
- The resulting dataset will provide an invaluable benchmark against which future ecological change can be measured.

A major component focuses on training Bhutanese conservationists, forest officers and community members in camera trapping, ecological monitoring and data analysis.

Over the course of the project, dozens of participants will gain practical skills that can be applied across Bhutan’s protected area network.

This investment in local expertise will help ensure that monitoring continues long after the initial project has concluded.