Wangdue Phodrang

Wangdue Phodrang is Bhutan's largest district by area—4,308 square kilometers spanning from 800 to 5,800 meters elevation, encompassing subtropical forests, temperate valleys, and alpine tundra within single administrative boundaries. This vertical range creates the kingdom's greatest ecological diversity: red pandas, tigers, leopards, barking deer, and sambar populate the forested slopes while endangered Black-necked Cranes winter in the glacial Phobjikha Valley at 3,000 meters. The cranes' annual November arrival from Tibet occasions the Black-necked Crane Festival on November 11—villagers whose lives interweave with these endangered birds for half the year celebrate the return that signals winter's start. Most of the district falls within protected areas: the northern half lies in Wangchuck Centennial Park, with portions in Jigme Dorji and Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Parks. Biological corridors connecting these protected zones cross the district, making Wangdue Phodrang essential to Bhutan's conservation network. Gangteng Monastery, built in the 17th century, overlooks the wetlands where the cranes feed—religious and ecological significance concentrating in the same sacred landscape. The district's position between Thimphu-Punakha in the west and Trongsa in the east makes it a transit corridor on the only lateral road crossing central Bhutan. By 2026, Wangdue Phodrang's conservation assets face climate pressure: warming temperatures may shift the cranes' wintering grounds northward, testing whether the annual migration that defines local identity can persist as Himalayan ecosystems reorganize.