It is so refreshing to read of a country which has evaluated it's potential in an Earth/human supportive way using the guidelines of spiritual insight, causing harm to none either human or non-human and preserving for the future as much as possible while providing for the needs of today. Would that we in the West could be so wise. Respectfully, Thomas Lunde reposted from Mark Graffis ---------- >From: Mark Graffis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: all <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: [graffis-l] Green Bhutan taps gilded energy source >Date: Fri, Jun 18, 1999, 2:22 PM > > From: Mark Graffis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > > BHUTAN: June 18, 1999 > > THIMPHU - Deep in the eastern Himalayas is a small country that has > turned water into gold. > > Hydro-electricity has given Bhutan, where 85 percent of its 600,000 to > 700,000 people live off the land, one of the best per-capita economic > performances in impoverished South Asia. > > Bhutan still ranks as very poor, with gross domestic product of $550 > per person per annum. But the number has shot up over the past decade > and is riding a growing wave of water-borne wealth. > > "I feel our water is white gold," Tschering Tashi, deputy director of > Bhutan's Environment Commission, told Reuters. > > The secret of Bhutan's success is strong environmental protection - > most notably a law that ensures forest cover for 60 percent of this > mountainous land the size of Switzerland. > > Seventy-two percent of the country is swathed in primal forest and 26 > percent has been reserved in national parks. > > But Tashi said Bhutan's hydro-electric plants would suffer and the > country could forget about future projects if it neglected management > of water levels. > > The first line of defence is the country's forests, which range from > the tropical hardwoods in the south to the blue pine and birch at > altitudes up to 4,000 metres (13,000 feet). > > Forest preservation safeguards the micro-climate and water table, and > reduces the threat of soil erosion. > > FORESTS PART OF SOCIETY, CULTURE > > The Environment Commission cites a Bhutanese proverb at the beginning > of its policy document, called the Middle Path: "It is better to have > milk and cheese many times than beef just once." > > Understanding nature's cycles comes easy for a society steeped in > Buddhist and animist beliefs and for which mountains, lakes and > forests represent the homes of deities and spirits. > > "Peoples' lives are so much interlinked with the neighbouring forest > areas that they understand if too much timber is taken their farms and > villages will suffer," said Tashi. > > Bhutan's blue pine and chir pine, which grows at lower altitudes, are > the trees most valued by the timber industry. > > Kinley Dorjee, executive director of Bhutan's Royal Society for the > Protection of Nature, says a ban imposed this year on export of raw > timber was a major step forward. > > Bhutan's policies have been highly successful in tapping donor > support, notably from Austria, the Netherlands and Scandinavian > nations. > > Having energy-challenged India for a neighbour provides a ready-made > market for electricity exports, and the 336 megawatt Chukha plant > generates around 40 percent of Bhutan's exports. > > GUSH OF MONEY > > India's agreement to pay more for its electricity allowed the > government to defer plans to introduce personal income tax this year. > > Bhutan plans to commission a 1,020 megawatt plant at Tala in 2005. > There are also preliminary plans for a 800 megawatt plant. > > With annual rainfall of 5.5 metres and a maze of steep-sided valleys, > Bhutan is hydroelectric heaven. > > A long dry spell inevitably results in landslides that block vital > roads and threaten small isolated communities living in the valleys, > but Bhutan is still in better shape than its neighbours. > > To the east, environmental degradation in neighbouring Nepal has > exacerbated the problems of a rising birth rate, causing massive > shifts in population pressuring the region. > > And to the south, unscrupulous logging has led to sharp falls in > rainfall in India's northeast, and in some areas, has fuelled militant > guerrilla movements among forest-dwelling tribals. > > The lessons for Bhutan are all around. > > But conservation is much more than a policy issue here. It is rooted > in Buddhist teaching. > > In the words of Lord Buddha, "The forest is a unique organism of > unlimited kindness and benevolence that makes no demands for its > sustenance and extends protection to all beings, offering shelter, > even to the axeman who destroys it." > > Story by Simon Cameron-Moore > > REUTERS NEWS SERVICE > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Congratulations to "PAFind," our latest ONElist of the Week. > http://www.onelist.com > How is ONElist changing YOUR life? Visit our homepage and let us know! >
