The government plans to table an amendment to the Land Act of Bhutan 2007 in the forthcoming session of parliament. Although Bhutan has had a Land Act for over 30 years, the government has found that its complexities, inconsistencies, loopholes and erratic implementation have made it inadequate to protect and conserve agricultural land. The government hopes that the amended act will correct these problems and curb both unplanned and illegal developments and land conversions.

Although the country's existing Land Act stipulates that the conversion of wetland without the approval of the Ministry of Agriculture is illegal, over the past four years Bhutan has lost around 700 acres of wetland to infrastructure development-including the building of schools, power projects, roads and housing-as well as to land conversion for agriculture and other purposes. It has lost an additional 323 acres of land to illegal conversions and natural disasters.

According to observers, at this rate the continued loss of agricultural land could seriously impact Bhutan's goal of increasing national food production and achieving 70% food sufficiency. According to the 1997 land use survey, Bhutan's total arable land was only 7.8% of its total land. The expansion of agricultural land is already limited by the constitutional directive that the country must maintain at least 60% forest cover.