In the far eastern region of Bhutan lies Sakteng, a small town nestled among vertiginous peaks where the legendary yeti is reputed to roam. Climate change is disrupting traditional livelihoods here and forcing semi-nomadic yak farming families to settle in landslide prone mountain communities while the men risk their lives collecting a highly prized traditional medicine from Cordyceps found high in the peaks. In this land of tall tales, the community is adapting as best it can, complemented with funds from the Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility, designed and managed by the UN Capital Development Fund, which provides a lifeline to essential services and offers hope to this fiercely independent community.

Due to climate change, the mountains are no longer able to support yak herds and families that once roamed the peaks with their animals, now live increasingly sedentary lives dependent on trading and foraging for 'Yartsa Guenbub' or Cordyeps. The small bug lives high in the mountains where the air is dangerously thin, but a fungal parasite that grows from its head turning it into a zombie is worth more than gold. While the men risk their lives searching for these ‘zombie worms’, their families and older folk huddle in small wooden huts, fearful of the next landslide.

Photo: the portal leading into to the valley of Sakteng has a signboard highlighting EU Budget support and LoCAL. UNCDF-LoCAL C.Jancloes

Photo: Mr Tshering Tshewang. Head of the Gewog, UNCDF LoCAL 2023 C.Jancloes

“It keeps people awake at night - because of climate change, who knows when a flood can come. Especially in the summer: there are heavy rains in high altitude,” explained the Head of the Gewog, Mr Tshering Tshewang. “Sometimes it does not even rain here in the town, but we still get flash floods as it rains in higher altitude.”

Photo: A small wooden bridge made using LoCAL connects the two parts of Sakteng village, keeping a traditional trade route open. UNCDF-LoCAL C.Jancloes 2023

Photo: Sakteng town dangerously sits on the edge of a large river bed. Flash floods regularly change the path of the river bed. UNCDF-LoCAL C.Jancloes 2023

Sakteng is 3,000 metres above sea-level and surrounded by looming Himalayan peaks. This remote region is a land of legend - home to the yeti, a mythical man-mountain – but also close to the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary, a sanctuary for rare snow leopards, red pandas and the Himalayan red fox. The Brokpa people lived in harmony with this delicate ecosystem for generations, herding their shaggy haired oxen and crisscrossing the nearby border with India to trade, including gathering a few ‘zombie worms’ along the way. But that lifestyle is no longer sustainable forcing the community to become increasingly sedentary and their prized yaks are not adjusting well to the transition.

Mrs Gyenden Dema explained that her husband, who had no other source of income after the family’s yak herd began to fall sick and die, decided to join others and the search for the precious worm on high mountain peaks on the Indian border. Her husband started having altitude sickness, she said, and thought it would go away. But it didn’t, and he died on the mountain, leaving her a widow and their children without a father.

Mrs Leki Dema, homestay owner in Sakteng displays a unique 'climate adaptive' traditional hat, known as ‘tsipee cham’, made of yak felt with long twisted spikes designed to draw rain away from the hat and face.. Photo: C.Jancloes UNCDF LoCAL 2022

When there are yet-seeking tourists in town, Ms Dema helps her neighbour that runs a popular home-stay lodge in town (photo). But over the last two years, due to the COVID Pandemic, she has had little work and no income. Thankfully in Bhutan, education is free, so her children are able to attend the school and as part of a national plan they get a free breakfast every day. This free meal is a life-line for many of the poor families in the community, explained the Head of the Gewog Mr Tshewang.

The children reach school by crossing a small bridge and walking along a climate-resilient rural road, all built by the local authority, or Gewog, with a grant from the LoCAL Facility financed through budget support from the European Union. The investments worth just under US$13,000 are vital to sustaining this community, not only ensuring children are able to get to school year-round, but proving a link for trade and buying and selling of local crops, including potatoes and barley.

A farm road and wooden bridge connect communities on the other side of the river. UNCDF-LoCAL C.Jancloes 2023

Looking ahead, the 2,410-strong community of 1,182 men and 1,228 women, are eager for more investments and ideally on a larger scale. Along with the landslides, the region is vulnerable to glacial lake outburst floods – when near vertical walls of ice collapse sending boulders, giant chunks of ice and freezing waters rushing down the mountainside with enough power to sweep away everything that lies in its path.

Photo: Mr Karchung, a yak herder living nearby, pointing to the rocky river bed just above the bridge explains: "An elderly couple in their small house died due to these sudden flash floods. Their house was there; it just got swept away. The flood took everything downhill.” UNCDF-LoCAL C.Jancloes 2023

“This community is doing everything it can to survive in increasingly difficult circumstances,” said Tshering Penjor, UNCDF programme officer responsible for LoCAL in Bhutan. “With LoCAL we are seeing that communities are taking actions that build their community’s resilience. We now need to double down on that good start with additional finance that is commensurate with the scale of the problem here in Sakteng.”

About LoCAL Bhutan

LoCAL, with budget support from the European Union, is working with local governments to finance investments that take into account highly localized climate projections, boost awareness of the risks associated with climate change and work with local communities to identify climate resilient investments that best meet their needs. Since 2017, the Government of Bhutan, with EU budget support, has channeled approximately US $3.3 million through the LoCAL Performance Based Climate Resilience Grant system to communities for locally identified investments.climate resilient investments that best meet their needs.

To date, LoCAL has made over 350 adaptation investments in over 100 local governments across the country with pilots implemented in Bhutan providing the foundation for today’s international and standard mechanism, which is presently being implemented or designed for implementation in 34 countries across Africa, Asia the Caribbean and Pacific.

The standard, issued by the International Standard Organization, ISO 14093, and launched at COP27, offers an internationally recognized country-based mechanism to increase local government access to climate finance for adaptation. In Bhutan, the LoCAL mechanism is now integrated in the country’s budget planning system as the primary means of implementing adaptation at the local level across the country.

Find out more about LoCAL here

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