We are the world’s first environmental trust fund, established in 1992 as a collaborative venture between the Royal Government of Bhutan, United Nations Development Program, and World Wildlife Fund. An endowment of US$20 million was set up as an innovative mechanism to finance conservation programs over the long term in Bhutan. Donors to the trust fund include the World Wildlife Fund and the Global Environment Facility, the governments of Bhutan, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland.

In May 1996, the trust fund was legally incorporated in Bhutan under Royal Charter. Today, it is an effective conservation grantmaking organisation autonomous of the government. The trust fund is governed by the Royal Charter of 1996 and a high-level Management Board that was fully Bhutanised in May 2001. The day to day business is conducted out of a small secretariat.