Change in the Land Use System in Bhutan: Ecology, History, Culture, and Power

In this two part analysis I attempt to answer questions with reference to historical land use and tenurial systems in Bhutan. The first part throws light on the popularly held view that land tenure in Bhutan was feudal prior to the advent of moderisation. By looking at the lived experiences of peasants in Bhutan, as human agents at the nexus of social, political, economic, and ecological forces, a nuanced and complex picture of land use systems in Bhutan emerges. I argue that in contradistinction to a feudal tenancy mode, historically land has been held in private for the most part although other arrangements existed alongside private property ownership. Monastic estates, and estates belonging to the handful of nobility were worked by tenured serfs and slaves. In part II, I have tried to build an analytical framework for an alternative explanation to feudalism in Bhutan. Rather than relying on the 'Tibetan model' and the 'empty land model' which are closely linked, I instead build a layer model for the explanation of land use systems in Bhutan. Acknowledgement and Disclaimation Professor William Burch of the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, provided inspiration, advise, support, and guidance. Certain names of people and places have been changed for reasons of privacy. The views expressed here are solely those of the writer. Tashi Wangchuk is a civil servant with the Nature Conservation Section, Department of Forestry Services, Ministry of Agriculture