The assessment was undertaken to determine whether Bhutan’s Fifth National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP 2025–2030) translates its stated commitment to gender equality into operational practice across all biodiversity interventions. While the NBSAP formally recognizes gender as a cross-cutting principle and includes a dedicated gender target, the practical question addressed by this analysis was whether biodiversity actions—planning, implementation, monitoring, and financing—are capable of producing equitable outcomes for women and men. 

Accordingly, the work aimed to move beyond policy interpretation toward implementation readiness. The objective was not merely to describe gender considerations, but to identify institutional weaknesses, risk pathways, and accountability gaps, and to develop an implementation-oriented Gender Action Plan (GAP) capable of embedding gender responsiveness directly into biodiversity governance systems rather than leaving it dependent on individual projects or donor requirements.