GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL STATUS IN BHUTAN

GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL STATUS IN BHUTAN*

DAVID ZURICK

ABSTRACT. The Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan is in the midst of transformation as it moves from an isolated past to a modern nation-state and participant in the global community. Its development path embraces the concept of “Gross National Happiness,” a philosophy and policy instrument that seeks to promote human development and manage environmental conservation within a sustainable strategy guided by Buddhist ethics. After examining Bhutan’s approach to development and the governance and environmental policies stemming from it, this essay assesses its impacts on environmental conditions in the country. Keywords: Bhutan, tlevelopnierit, cnviroriniental policy, gross ncztional happiriess.

There lire i n the heart ofthe vast H i r m l a p s s o m strafige rnmrketplaces where o w coil barter the whirlwirid of life for infinite wisdom

-Buddhist master Milarepa, 11th century

T h e philosophical underpinning of life in Bhutan is upheld by Buddhist precepts that emphasize the pursuit of emotional and spiritual fulfillment, prosperity to meet essential material requirements, and a respect for the natural order. These concerns are made explicit in the kingdom’s approach to development, which focuses on enriching people’s lives by meeting basic needs, enlarging economic and social choices, preserving cultural traditions, and promoting environmental conservation. The basic tenets of the strategy were first articulated in the late 1980s by His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuck as the concept of “gross national happiness” ( G N H ) .

The practical outline was developed in the Bhutan National Human Development Report 2000:

Ultimately, a happy society is a caring society, caring for the past and future, caring for the environment, and caring for those who need protection. Establishing such a society will require a long-term rather than a short-term perspective of development. Much will depend upon how well the country’s environmental resources are harnessed and managed. Happiness in the future also will depend upon mitigating the foreseeable conflict between traditional cultural values and the modern lifestyles that inevitably follow in the wake of development. (RGB 20oo,22)

The pursuit of happiness as a development policy is, of course, fraught with complexity. It suffers from a universal ideal and contends with the rhetoric of paradise. Problems exist in how progress and success might be assessed; happiness, after

- ~~ . . ~

* I wish to thank Paul Karm for sharing his insights and e d y research findings about Bhutan and for providing the 1964 photographs in this study. For research assistance in Bhutan, thanks are due Chencho Tshering, Karma Dorji, Tshering Dorji, Sharah Dorji, and Dawa Zangpo. I am grateful to the University Research Committee, East- ern Kentucky University for providing travel funds. Julsun Pacheco produced the maps with technical assistance provided by the Geographical Studies and Research Center, Eastern Kentucky University.

qC, DH. ZUKICK is a professor of geography at Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Kentucky 40474.

7hc Geopplrkal Rcvrcw qh (4): 657-681, Octohcr 2006 (:opyright 8 zoo7 by the Americdn Ccogrqhic‘il Society of New York

658 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

all, is a hard thing to measure. And in the case of Bhutan, serious contradictions exist between the explicit goal of equality and the rigid, hierarchical nature of Bhutanese society. Moreover, ethnic conflicts, including the expulsion in the early 1990s of 95,000 Lhotshampa (generally characterized as Bhutanese of Nepali ancestry living in southern Bhutan), suggest deep societal divisions in Bhutan that may preclude the universal application of GNH policies (Hutt 2003). Bhutan’s commitment to alternative development is appealing, but its darker side must be acknowledged lest we fall victim to a gross simplification of life in an idyllic kingdom. Not everyone in Bhutan is happy.

This essay examines the status of the natural environment in Bhutan in light of the policies stemming from the kingdom’s practical and moral pursuit of happiness. It seeks to understand how the holistic concern for achieving human contentment, made explicit in Bhutan’s development approach, reflects on the conditions of the landscape and natural environment.’ The societal dilemmas of the GNH concept-for example, the hierarchical social structure and ethnic relations-are considered insofar as they impinge on the transferability of Bhutan’s development model and its efficacy for environmental management. At issue here is how the pursuit of happiness, embodied in Bhutan’s development approach, registers in the lay of the land and whether it has relevance outside the political boundaries of the kingdom.

GEOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND In the language of Bhutan-Dzongkha, derived from the Tibetan-the country is known as “Druk yul,” the “Land of the Thunder Dragon.” This appellation stems from the Buddhist school, the Drukpa-founded at the monastery of Druk in western Bhutan-which reigned supreme in the region beginning in the fifteenth century and unified the inhabitants within the current territory of the kingdom. The origin of the modern name “Bhutan” is debatable but most likely is an Anglo- Indian misnomer derived from the Indian term Bhotanta, referring to the territo- ries bordering Tibet (Aris 2005). Bhutan has existed as an independent state, albeit in fragmented form, since the mid-i6oos, when a high-ranking Buddhist lama from Tibet established theocratic rule over the region and loosely governed it through a coalition of territorial representatives or district governors known as “Penlops.”

The local rulers operated from fortress-like administrative monasteries called dzongs, which occupied strategic positions atop ridges and alongside rivers (Figure 1)’ and governed the countryside with a great deal of self-sufficiency and sover- eignty. Only in 1907, with the crowning of the first king Ugyen Wangchuck, was Bhutan brought under a unified central authority. Throughout much of the twentieth century and until the early 1960s, the kingdom, under a succession of hereditary monarchs, remained isolated from much of the Western world, although it maintained important geopolitical and economic relations with Tibet and India. The insular and autocratic political system and its topographic isolation combined to veil the kingdom in secrecy (Karan, Iijima, and Pauer 1987). As Bhutan enters a new era of internationalization, the veil is being lifted.

GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS IN BHUTAN 659

FIG. 1-The Par0 dzong and valley in western Bhutan. The fortress-like monastery serves a dual purpose in housing both political and religious administrations. (Photograph by the author, May 2004)

In 1961 the kingdom sought India’s help in launching its first development plan. Since then it has retained its close political and economic relations with India: Bhutan’s foreign relations are guided by India, including matters of national secu- rity and diplomatic policy; India is Bhutan’s major trading partner and source of foreign aid; Bhutan serves as a strategic buffer between India and China and now is poised to become a transit route for trade between the two giant Asian economies; and many cultural and technological introductions come to Bhutan via India.

Bhutan spreads across 46,500 square kilometers of landlocked terrain-roughly the size of Switzerland-bounded by the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and India in all other directions (Figure 2 ) . With the exception of a narrow strip of lowland in the south, the country is entirely mountainous. Elevations range from 100 meters above sea level in the southern Duar Plain to the 7,554-meter Kula Kangri on the Tibetan border. The Great Himalaya range forms much of the northern and western borders of the country, and the terrain descends southward in a series of broad valleys and forested ridges until it reaches the northern extension of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Numerous rivers have their headwaters in the high mountains and, due to their hydropower potential, help to shape both the topography of the country and its economy (Zurick, Karan, and Pacheco 1999).

Tremendous climatic variability exists in the country. The southern lowlands enjoy a subtropical climate while the high elevations in the north are snowbound

660 T H E GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

FIG. 2-The Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan. (Cartography by Julsun Pacheco)

year-round. Local temperatures result from sun orientation, proximity to glaciers, large snowfields, mountain massifs, and the daily thermal winds, as well as from elevation changes. Bhutan’s location in the eastern Himalaya puts it directly in the path of the summer monsoon, and as a result it receives as much as 5,500 millimeters of annual precipitation in some places. The southern foothills receive the greatest amounts of rainfall averaging 2,000-5,000 millimeters per year; the Great Himalaya regions may experience less than 500 millimeters per year.

The complex topography and climate of Bhutan produce an astonishing array of habitats-from tropical to alpine tundra-which, in turn, support a diverse as- semblage of biota; the country is deemed one of the planet’s great centers of biological diversity, hosting a wealth of life that includes some of the most ancient species found on Earth. Altogether, more than 5,000 types of plants grow in Bhutan, including 50 species of rhododendron and more than 600 orchids. Extensive forests cover the ridges as high as 4,500 meters. The dominant vegetation communities in Bhutan are tropical deciduous forest up to 1,000 meters, subtropical forest between 1,000 meters and 2,000 meters, temperate deciduous-conifer mixed forest from 2,000

meters to 3,500 meters, and subalpine conifer and alpine tundra zones above 3,500 meters (Dorji 1991).


A reported 72 percent of Bhutan’s total land area remains covered in native forest and shrubland, which support a rich population of fauna, including 165 species of mammals and 770 species of birds ( RGR 2000). Many of the plants and animals found in Bhutan, including the snow leopard, takin, and red panda in the high mountains and the golden langur, wild buffalo, and Bengal tiger in the lowlands, are on the world’s endangered species list. The management of Bhutan’s wildlife relies in part on the country’s Buddhist ethic that evokes a reverence for nature and pro- hibits killing but also, and perhaps most important, on how the environmental policies of Bhutan balance the preservation of forests and wildlife against the demands of a modernizing society.

A great deal of confusion exists about Bhutan’s human population, and the country lacks an accurate national demographic database. Population figures reported in the 1960s ranged from 300,000 to 865,000 (Karan 1967). These totals were widely repeated during the 1980s and 1990s without additional effort to gather more accurate numbers. Most recently, based on systematic surveys, Bhutan’s official government figures reported a population of 690,000 in 2001; other published accounts place the number as high as 2.1 million (Upreti 2004). The United Nations calcu- lates an estimated 1.2 million inhabitants (Carpenter and Carpenter 2002). The dis- crepancies stem from conflicting estimates of population growth rates and the lack of an accurate national census. In the 1980s a 2 percent annual rate of population growth was reported. This increased to 3.1 percent in 1994-attributed to declining death rates-and is currently at a reported 2.5 percent-suggested to be a result of the country’s aggressive family planning campaign.

As a result of its small number of inhabitants, Bhutan overall enjoys a low population density. This has helped to check some of the pressures of society on the land that plague other Himalayan regions. Using the United Nations’ population figure of 1.2 million, the calculated population density for Bhutan overall is 25.8 persons per square kilometer-compared with 111 per square kilometer for Himachal Pradesh in India and 172.6 per square kilometer for Nepal (Zurick and others 2006). Apart from the largest towns, many of which have only recently seen rapid growth, the southern foothills zone, occupied primarily by Hindus who speak the Nepali language (known by the Dzongkha term “Lhotshampa”), is the most densely settled area of the country. The fertile mountain valleys contain significant clusters of Bud- dhist inhabitants who speak Tibetan-derived languages. Elsewhere, with the exception of nomadic Drokpa herders who move through geographical zones on a seasonal basis with herds of yak, much of the country remains uninhabited (Figure 3).

Overall, the country retains its predominantly rural and isolated character, with fewer than 15 percent of its inhabitants living in towns and more than half the population residing in places located more than a day’s walk from a vehicular road. This configuration is changing, though, with people moving from rural areas to the towns and cities. The capital of Thimphu, established in 1961, now has a population of 46,000 and is growing at a rate of 10 percent per year (Brown and others 2007). The influx of people into the towns concentrates the impacts of society on the land,


particularly in the fertile valleys such as Thimphu and Paro, which until recently were entirely agricultural. The overall increase in Bhutan’s population in conjunction with modernization poses challenges to the country’s commitment to environmental conservation, human development, and thus, by extension, to the pursuit of happiness.

THE CONCEPT OF GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS The premise of GNH is that development should not be limited to increased consumption and the accumulation of wealth but, rather, should seek to maximize happiness by attending to the shared needs of humanity. The subjective nature of happiness poses obvious problems to the success of such a policy, but some of its essential qualities-economic, spiritual, and emotional well-being-translate specifically to development strategies: economic development, environmental preservation, promotion of cultural identity, and judicious governance. These four components are integrated within Bhutan’s national goal of enhancing people’s capabilities by putting them at the center of development efforts and by expanding their freedoms of choice, aspiration, and creativity.

Bhutan recognizes the inherent contradictions in measuring happiness: “No one can guarantee human happiness, and the choices people make are their own concern. But the process of development should at least create a conducive environment for people, individually and collectively, to develop their full potential and to have a reasonable chance of leading productive and creative lives in accord with their needs and interests” (RGB 2000, 13).

Rather than attempting to derive a measurement of such an elusive concept as GNH, as countries do with Gross National Product or the United Nations does with the Human Development Index, Bhutan aims instead to create the conditions within which personal satisfaction can be attained, specifically in the four essential components of development identified above, and attempts to substantiate progress toward those conditions. The idea is that by tracking progress toward the conditions necessary to happiness, it may be possible to actually assess the happiness goals. This, too, is fraught with contradiction, in part because Bhutan is not a homogeneous society, and the policies aimed toward happiness may not successfully navi- gate societal or spatial divisions.

Bhutan’s concept of GNH is in part cultural, having its basis among the kingdom’s Buddhist traditions that seek to cultivate a sense of spiritual fulfillment by avoiding dissatisfaction (which emanates in part from unmet material needs), enriching cultural values, nurturing a healthy and productive natural environment, and enabling freedom of choice. These factors closely align with the essential components of Bhutan’s development strategy (Rinchhen, 1993). Bhutan’s population, however, is not entirely Buddhist (Hindus constitute 25 percent of the country’s population), nor is the national Dzongkha language a predominant unifying feature (it repre- sents about 25 percent of the population) (Hutt 2003). The notion of a singular cultural identity-the Drukpa Buddhist culture-that extends across the entire king-


FIG. 3-Drokpa herders in the Bumthang Valley of east-central Bhutan. The drokpa are nomadic yak herders who move seasonally with their livestock between the high pastures and the lowland forests. (Photograph by the author, May 2004)

dom is erroneous, and thus a measure of happiness based on its attainment is problematic.

The concept of GNH also derives from lessons Bhutan has learned from the development experiences of other countries, including its close neighbors in the Himalaya. It is a reaction to some of the more egregious failures in the sole pursuit of economic growth, particularly insofar as they produce environmental degradation (Guha 1990; Denniston 1995; Shrestha 1997). Bhutan’s approach seeks to establish a clear sense of political and economic will behind its environmental policy, a feature that is lacking in many other Himalayan localities (Ives 1998; Blaikie and Muldavin zooqa). To the extent that it succeeds in linking economic progress to environmental conservation, and both to the pursuit of human happiness, Bhutan offers an example to the world. It is not clear, however, whether such a model, even if it is successful in Bhutan, is transferable to other countries and societies.

One of Bhutan’s concerns is how to manage the potential conflict between traditional cultural values and modern lifestyles. This is particularly challenging in light of the emphasis given to expanding the range of free choice and other human rights. The cultural values that Bhutan espouses, which it regulates through restric-


tions on “subversive” behavior and requirements for conformity, reflect its aspira- tions toward a homogeneous cultural identity. Bhutan, however, is a multi-ethnic state, with three major groups of people-the Ngalong in the west, the Sharchop in the east, and the Lhotshampa in the south, each with linguistic and historical subdi- visions (Hutt 2003).

Much of the social contention in Bhutan rests on its ethnic Nepali population. Historical sources agree that people of Nepali descent first began migrating into Bhutan in large numbers during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as part of a larger diaspora of people from Nepal into Sikkim, Darjeeling, and southern Bhutan (Rose 1994; Basu 1998). Bhutan in the 1950s and 1960s sought to assimi- late its longtime ethnic Nepali residents into a multicultural society, but the efforts in such areas as education, land settlement, and employment were unsuccessful, and in the 1980s Bhutan enacted more stringent policies aimed at creating a single national identity. In 1985 it instituted the Citizenship Act, which requires that all persons produce evidence of historical residency in Bhutan. Many Bhutanese of Nepali ancestry lack such documents. Subsequent events, including episodes of dem- onstration, human rights abuse, and civil unrest, led authorities to evict almost 100,ooo ethnic Nepalis during the 1990s (Hutt 2003).

On the face of it, Bhutan argues that the evicted persons are illegal immigrants. Some observers, however, suggest that the evictions result from a concern that growing numbers of ethnic Nepali people represent a threat both to the cultural domi- nance of the Drukpa and the natural resource base of the southern hills (HRCB

2003). The human rights issues that affect the Nepali population undermine the very foundation of Bhutan’s concept of GNH, which rests on both social and environmental justice.

The sustainability platform of GNH is tied to the management of the country’s natural heritage. This extends beyond the philosophical viewpoints about nature espoused in government reports to the practical implementation of sound environmental policies. The available documentation-for example, government planning reports and biodiversity action plans ( RGB 2002, aoo5)-indicates that Bhutan enjoys a rare level of high environmental quality. The great biological diversity of the kingdom is primarily a result of its unique geographical character. The preservation of this diversity, however, is more problematic: Is it an explicit result of government policies, or does it stem from conditions of low population density and a small industrial economy?

GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

Conservation in Bhutan is not restricted to environmental matters but includes cultural traditions and values; hence, environmental policy is necessarily holistic in both design and practice (RGB 2000). The country’s National Environmental Strat- egy, developed in 1997, specifically ties the management of environmental resources to maintaining cultural traditions, values, and lifestyles. In particular, the strategy- and the environmental policies it generates-seeks to find a development path that


will meet the food, health care, employment, and education needs of Bhutan’s popu- lace without sacrificing the quality of the natural environment or depleting the natural resource base. This quest for sustainable development, and the enactment of environmental policy in Bhutan, is thus in direct compliance with the country’s concept of GNH (RGB 2000,22).

Some key areas where the country’s environmental policy overlaps its efforts toward economic development include hydropower development for domestic energy needs and export, food self-sufficiency, and industrial development for non- farm employment and local consumption. To help ensure that these activities are tied to conservation, Bhutan has identified the need for capacity building in the areas of data collection, environmental education, leadership, and environmental legislation (RGB 199ia).

The heads of the various government ministries in Bhutan are members of the National Environment Commission, which establishes the policies that integrate the economic development sectors of the government with the nation’s environmental protection goals. This structure coordinates the efforts of various government agencies toward a development path that sustains the spirit of GNH. The commission initially was responsible for writing the National Environmental Strat- egy, and it now advises development planning for the country. The two primary documents that provide protection for the natural environment are the 1995 Forest and Nature Conservation Act and the 1998 Biodiversity Action Plan (Blaikie and Sadeque 2000). These documents complement the 1992 Environmental Impact As- sessment Guidelines, which predate the current National Environmental Strategy.

Augmenting Bhutan’s policies for managing the environmental impacts of industry, forestry, and agriculture are its plans for protecting designated natural areas and parks. The Forest and Nature Conservation Act is the main policy document for managing protected areas and wildlife. Administrative responsibility is shared by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Forestry Services Division, working in col- laboration with the Bhutan Trust Fund for Environmental Conservation and the Royal Society for the Protection of Nature. International conservation agencies working in the country, such as the World Wildlife Fund, the Global Environmental Facility, and the United Nations Environment Programme, also support the government policies through funding and technical expertise (WWF n.d.). The efficacy of Bhutan’s environmental policies ultimately registers in the conditions of the land, and, although it is too early to ascertain the effect of some policies, prevailing trends are discernible.

DEVELOPMENT A N D ENVIRONMENTAL STATUS Early descriptions of Bhutan’s landscape indicated an extensive forest cover interrupted only by agricultural fields in valley bottoms and grazing pastures at higher elevations (Sargent 1985; Roder and others 2001). A forest resource assessment con- ducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization in 1990 estimated that 60 percent of the country was covered in canopy forest ( FAO 1991,1993). More recent analysis of


FIG. +Land use in Bhutan. Source: NASA Geocover data, 2000 and 2001, processed by MENRIS I International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Kathmandu. (Cartography by Julsun Pacheco)

satellite data shows that 73 percent of the country’s total land area is in forest (65 percent canopy tree cover and 8 percent scrub forest), an additional 8 percent of land is under cultivation, and 4 percent of the country is used as pasture (Tulachan 2001) (Figure 4). Bhutan’s forests cover much of the mountain region, including the southern foothills; farmland tends to be restricted to valley bottoms and the Duar Plain. Livestock grazing occurs across the settlement zones, but high-altitude seasonal yak pastures are restricted to the subalpine zone (Miller 1988). Apart from localized urban areas, the remainder of the country’s land cover is occupied by glaciers, permanent snowfields, or bare rock.

FORESTS

Bhutan’s forests are among the most diverse in the world and, unlike many other areas in the Himalaya where forests often exist in fragments surrounded by farmland, Bhutan’s forests are extensive, intact, and interrupted only occasionally by


human settlements. This description applies less to the southern and eastern foothills, where population densities are highest and shifting cultivation is practiced, but throughout the country a notable feature is the high degree of intact forest. With 73 percent of its area covered in forest, Bhutan clearly has avoided excessive forest degradation. The degree of forest cover is greater than the target of 60 percent minimum coverage proposed by government policy under the GNH ( R G B 2000).

Nonetheless, the forest area in some heavily populated regions-for example, the southern foothills-is threatened by livestock grazing, fuelwood cutting, and commercial resource extraction. Assessments of grazing pressure by forest experts indicate that, although damage from livestock is minimal in the coniferous forests, when the broadleaf forests are heavily grazed, they may suffer from regeneration problems. This is most noticeable in forests that are disturbed by logging or by poor management practices (Roder and others 2001). Tree fodder is an important source of nutrients for livestock, especially during the winter months, but, unlike other parts of the Himalaya, where farmers heavily lop the public forests for livestock fodder, in Bhutan farmers cultivate fodder trees on private landholdings. At low elevations a large number of tree species are planted for fodder, including several varieties of Ficus, but at higher elevations the fodder trees are limited mainly to willow (Salix bubylonica) and evergreen oak (Querczis semecarpifolia). Above 2,500 meters, livestock owners rely less on tree fodder, instead utilizing hay and grain straws for winter fodder and pastures for summer grazing.

Fuelwood consumption remains high in Bhutan, where 90 percent of household fuel needs are met by firewood and the per capita wood use of 2.4 cubic meters per person per year is among the world’s highest (World Energy Council 2006). In the designated parklands, fallen timber may be collected without permit from the state forestland, but the felling of live trees for firewood is closely regulated by the local authorities, who investigate household requests and collect royalty payments. Outside the parks, fuelwood cutting in public forests is subject to similar conservation regulations, but these are less stringently enforced. The Forestry Department provides all farmers with seedlings on request for purposes of planting fuelwood trees on private lands. Overall, the threat posed by tree cutting for fuelwood is less than that arising from removing fallen debris and leaf litter used to fertilize agricultural fields, which, if intensively collected, may effectively destroy the ability of the forest to regenerate.

During the 1960s Bhutan sought to develop its forests as a major source of revenue by promoting lumber trade, and as a result conimercial timber extraction increased from 77,000 cubic meters in 1981 to 235,000 cubic meters in 1986 ( RGB iggib). In the early 1980s the country shifted its forest priority away from revenue genera- tion to environmental protection. Nonetheless, commercial extractions-both legal and illegal-continue, especially in the southern part of the country. The industrial use of timber (paper pulp, plywood, particle board, furniture), accounts for 80 percent of commercial use, and the remainder is for house construction and public works ( R G B 199lb). Commercial timber harvests in the southern lowlands center on


tropical hardwoods for export, and among the high-elevation conifer forests the target species include blue pine, chir pine, spruce, and fir.

In recent efforts to mitigate the adverse impacts of commercial logging, the Na- tional Forest Policy has instituted additional restrictions on tree felling and created new afforestation programs. Some national trends are discernable. Commercial forestry is no longer permitted in areas designated for the protection of water supply, wildlife habitat, or soil conservation. Road buffers and religious sites also are off- limits for commercial timber purposes. Active timber harvesting occurs on less than 4 percent of Bhutan’s geographical area, and all commercial logging utilizes long- distance cable systems to avoid destructive road clearing. The felling of narrow corridors rather than large-area clear-cutting is practiced in both the deciduous and coniferous forests and is considered to be effective for forest regeneration (Thinley 2002). Where natural regeneration is difficult, naturally occurring species are planted. The afforestation programs begun in the mid-1980s with World Bank assistance, focusing on maintaining community fuelwood supplies, continue and have been enhanced in the recent National Forest Policy. Nurseries are being established throughout the country, and seedlings are distributed to farmers for planting on private landholdings.

Forest management also has been decentralized, with local authorities gaining more control over regulating village forests (Bhatia 2000). This has allowed more effective enforcement of regulations for fuelwood and leaf-litter collection, permits issued for household timber extraction, and grazing rights ( UNDP 2004). A production-based forest-management program was initiated in 1995 to establish reserve forests for timber and fuelwood extraction. The production forests require replant- ing after logging and then are closed to allow regeneration. (Blaikie and Sadeque 2000). Such policies seek to check forest depletion overall and specifically that which is linked to commercial operations. Estimates of total timber extraction in the mid- 1990s put the figure for fuelwood consumption at 1.3 million cubic meters and commercial industrial use at 200,000 cubic meters. The relatively low priority given to commercial forest harvesting in Bhutan is indicated by the fact that in 2002 timber harvesting and processing contributed less than 5 percent to the total national revenue (Bhatia 2000).

AGRICULTURE

Farmland and grazing areas constitute 12 percent of Bhutan’s total land area, and 85 percent of its inhabitants practice subsistence agriculture. The resulting agricultural land-use mosaic is quite complex. Irrigated rice farming is found in the low- elevation river valleys and accounts for 18 percent of the cultivated area; rain-fed farming, primarily maize and potatoes, is common at higher elevations and on slopes greater than 30 degrees. Shifting cultivation is practiced in 32 percent of the nation’s total cultivated area and accounts for 80 percent of the cultivated land in the eastern part of the country. Under conditions of low population density the swidden systems are sustainable, but in those places where densities are high, such as along the southern border, the practice has adverse environmental impacts (Tulachan 2001).

GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS I N BHUTAN 669

The National Agricultural Policy entitles each household to 10 hectares of agricultural land, but the average household landholding is only 1.5 hectares-not enough to maintain food self-sufficiency even with new technologies, and the country remains a net food importer, with an overall self-sufficiency rate of 65 percent (Tulachan 2001). Households with insufficient land establish tenancy relations with larger landowners to gain access to more farmland. Most rural households maintain livestock in addition to grain fields. Cattle and yak are predominant, with the herds moving seasonally between low-elevation forests in winter and alpine pastures in summer. The contribution of livestock to Bhutan’s agricultural economy is vital, and the use of common lands for grazing partially offsets the constraints that small household landholdings place on food production.

Bhutan’s agricultural policy under the GNH strategy sets a self-sufficiency target of 75 percent, with the balance of food imports funded by cash crops for which Bhutan maintains a comparative advantage due to topography and climate. The area planted under major cash crops-mainly fruits, cardamom, and chilies-was 26,551 hectares in 2000, up from 22,351 hectares in 1986 (Tulachan 2001). The food self-sufficiency target, expansion of horticulture, growing population, and competi- tion between livestock and forest conservation all suggest challenges to the agricultural sector. Given the significance of farming in Bhutanese society and the fact that a rural livelihood, in combination with monastic centers, is the primary repository of cultural traditions, agriculture becomes an important nexus in the country’s efforts to enhance both national happiness and environmental conservation.

OTHER ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

Bhutan has little industrial output, and its primary exports are wood products, cash crops, and cement. Small mines producing gypsum, limestone, slate, and dolomite are locally important and are strictly regulated by the Department of Mines. The country no longer exports unprocessed logs; instead, it encourages a small furniture industry. Bhutan seeks to expand its limited industrial base mainly by develop- ing hydropower and tourism.

Energy from Bhutan’s large and fast-flowing rivers already provides 40 percent of export revenue, a tenfold increase since 1980. The country has the potential to generate about 30,000 megawatts of power, and the largest extant hydropower scheme-the Chukha project-currently produces 336 megawatts (78 percent of which is exported to India). Other hydropower schemes in southern Bhutan under construction or in the planning stages include the Tala project, with a capacity of 1,020 megawatts, and the smaller Kuri Chu and Bas0 Chu projects, each with pro- jected capacities of 60 megawatts. Bhutan’s hydropower schemes utilize “run-of- the-river’’ designs, which have fewer environmental impacts than do the large dams and reservoir schemes found elsewhere in the Himalaya (World Energy Council 2006).

Bhutan’s splendid natural and cultural heritage encourages the development of tourism, which is managed by regulating the number of tourists and their itinerar-


ies. This is achieved by a $200 daily charge, 35 percent of which goes to the government as a tourist tax, thus allowing price to determine demand, and by requiring that tourists visit the country in sanctioned tours. A portion of the tourist tax is applied to environmental programs, augmenting the endowment of the Bhutan Trust Fund for Environmental Conservation. Despite the high cost, the number of visitors to Bhutan increased from 1,538 in 1990 to more than 7,500 in 2003, prompt- ing the government to propose an increase in the tourism surcharge from $200 per day to $300 per day beginning in 2006 (Brown and others 2007). In effect, Bhutan’s tourism policy seeks to increase tourism revenue while keeping the actual number of tourists entering the country at a low level.

PROTECTED AREAS

Bhutan’s Ministry of Agriculture legislates and manages the country’s parks, which, with the inclusion of biological corridors, constitute more than 26 percent of the country’s total area. The protected areas range in size from the 500-hectare Zhoshing Reserved Forest, near the Sikkim border, to the 7,813-square-kilometer Jigme Dorji Wildlife Sanctuary-the country’s largest park (Figure 5). The territorial framework of protected areas is supported by an additional 3,800 square kilometers of proposed biological corridors, which will link the protected areas into an interlaced network. Bhutan’s parks were established to protect ecosystems and not as major tourist attractions; hence, they contain few of the services normally associated with national parks, such as entrance stations or visitor centers (Sherpa, Wangchuk, and Mongar 1993).

Most of the parks in Bhutan contain a resident human population, and the protection of village culture is as much a part of the management of the parks as is the protection of wildlife. The park programs allow villagers to farm, graze animals, cut firewood, and collect plants in conformity with conservation policies. Initially, the parks were controlled by the government and devoted exclusively to conserving biodiversity. However, recognizing under the GNH concept the cultural rights of park residents and their basic entitlement over local resources, the protected areas policy now accommodates the subsistence needs of local villagers and enlists their participation in park management. Such an approach is in keeping with protected- area strategies found elsewhere in the Himalaya (Green 1993; Stevens and De Lacy 1997). In practice, it is acknowledged that the engagement of Himalayan villagers in the design and management of protected areas facilitates not only their cultural survival but also more sustainable local management of landscapes for biological diversity (Byers 2005). It introduces an important local counterweight into the state’s environmental policies (Blaikie and Muldavin 2oo4a, 2004b), one that gives greater control and autonomy to the conservation efforts of local people.

The overall goal of Bhutan’s participatory park design is to enable villagers to devise ways of utilizing environmental resources for basic needs and economic development without compromising biological diversity. In the past, problems of over- grazing, poaching, and gathering nontimber forest resources were minimal. But


PROTECTED AREAS SYMBOLS AND SHADING 1 Jigme DOqi Wildlife Sanctuary (7,813 km2) 2 Zhoshing Reserved Forest (5 km2) 3 Doga National Park (21 kmz) 4 Sinchula Reserved Forest (80 km2) 5 Mochu Reserved Forest (277 k d ) 6 Pochu Reserved Forest (140 km2) 7 Phipsoo Reserved Forest (175 km*) 8 Namgyal Wangchuk Wtldlrfe Sanctuary (195 km2)

- Road - River

L-] Existing or proposed reserve Important town

9 Manas Wildlife Sanctuary (463 km2) 0 50 100 L I

10 Shumar Wildllfe Reserve (160 kmz) 11 Dungsum Reserved Forest (180 km2) 12 Neoli Wildlife Santuary (40 km2) 13 Khaling Reserved Forest (233 k d )

Kilometers

FIG. 5-The distribution of protected areas in Bhutan. Source: Data from UNDP 2004. (Modified from map 0 Julsun Pacheco; reproduced courtesy of the cartographer)

with pressures of population growth, road expansion, and economic development, such demands will likely intensify. As a result, the government now regularly evalu- ates the park and wildlife policies, including the demarcation of park boundaries, enforcement of regulations, and interventions in village activities such as grazing and medicinal herb cultivation, in efforts to keep them in pace with broader societal developments ( RGB 2002) .

ASSESSMENTS OF GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS A N D THE ENVIRONMENT

The ultimate measure of GNH and the efficacy of Bhutan’s environmental policies lies in the status of the country’s natural environment-the diversity of forests and wildlife, the cleanliness of rivers and streams, the quality of the air-and in the level


of human development enjoyed by Bhutan’s citizens. Demographic surveys indicate significant progress in many human-development indicators. Between 1984 and 1998, for example, life expectancy increased from 47.4 years to 66 years, adult lit- eracy more than doubled, from 23 percent to 55 percent, and per capita wealth increased by 70 percent ( RGB 2000). Although Bhutanese enjoy a quality of life higher than that found in most other Himalayan regions, the plight of the ethnic Nepali residents, who lack access to education, employment, and land title, is a stark exception to the general case.

The close integration of development sectors and environmental policy pro- motes a high degree of compatibility between resource extraction and conservation. Even though the pressures of a growing population and an increasingly urban society continue to mount, the awareness of environmental issues in Bhutan is strong. In rural areas, conservation programs seek to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts, especially in high-altitude grazing areas, and to introduce sustainable farming practices in areas where shifting cultivation has damaged the forests. New, locally enforced regulations on forest extraction, including nontimber activities, appear to be effective. In urban localities, town planning and zoning have been introduced, along with sewage- and water-treatment facilities and recycling programs. The intention of urban projects is to lessen the impact of large concentrations of people on natural systems and to design towns and cities as attractive places to live.

FIELD STUDIES: PHOTOGRAPHIC IMPRESSIONS O F GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS Project reports and government surveys provide documentary evidence to assess environmental conditions, but empirical field studies are scant in Bhutan. Examples of visual impressions of landscape conditions obtained by the author utilizing repeat-photography techniques augment the documentary sources of information. The photographs were taken in 2004 from the same perspective of photographs made in 1964 by the geographer Paul Karan. The pairs of photographs thus show changes in the landscape over a forty-year period. Such repeat-photography techniques have been successfully used in various settings to study landscape elements (see, for example, Eley and Northon 2003). Elsewhere in the Himalaya, they have been used to track vegetation change, infrastructure expansion, and geomorphic damage (Byers 1987, 2005). In Bhutan, such photographic comparisons provide a valuable record of landscape change where other data simply do not exist.

Included here are three sets of paired photographs, out of a total of ten image pairs. They are provided with a few methodology caveats. Unlike aerial photographs, which contribute geometric accuracy, the landscape photographs do not lend them- selves to quantitative analysis, and the changes observed in them are of an impres- sionistic nature. Most of the photographs were made from roadside vantages and thus portray conditions along the country’s busiest corridors and most densely settled places. On one hand, this suggests that they may not typify conditions in more remote localities and therefore provide little basis for generalization. On the other hand, it is precisely along such corridors that one expects the greatest landscape


change; hence a visual record of such areas will portray conditions among the country’s most heavily impacted places. Although the photographs were taken in approximately the same season-early monsoon-the flush of vegetation growth and the exact point in the farm calendar, as well as the moisture content of the air, is different, rendering a visual shift in landscape conditions that, without close inspection, could be construed as actual change on the ground.

A final methodological note is the participation of local people in the photographic project. In all cases, local villagers were recruited to assist in identifying the most likely spot from which an earlier photograph was made. Their contribution to the project, however, goes beyond identifying the locations of the photography plat- forms. The villagers were enthusiastic examiners of the old photographs against current landscape conditions and offered numerous suggestions about and inter- pretations of the changes taking place in a spot. The ensuing discussions became important sources of local landscape knowledge.

Landscape change displayed in the three sets of photographs center on trends in forest cover, farmland, and urbanization. Figures 6 (taken in 1964) and 7 (taken in 2004) provide similar views across the floor of the Par0 Valley, looking east toward the dzong. One of the most salient features of these two images is the lack of significant change on the valley floor. In both photographs the fertile plain is devoted to agriculture, despite the fact that the Par0 Valley is one of the fastest-growing regions in Bhutan.

The conservation of agricultural land in the valley bottoms is widespread in the country and reflects the government policies aimed at preserving farmland for purposes of both livelihood and food self-sufficiency. The construction of new buildings and infrastructure developments tend to occur on the slopes well above the valley floor, as evidenced in the photographs. Where new buildings do appear on the lower slopes, they are associated with new tree plantings, which help to stabilize the slopes and reduce soil erosion. A tree buffer is observed where the Par0 River flows along the valley below the dzong. The riparian corridor existed in the earlier photograph and appears without disturbance in the later image. The benefits of such plantings, which now constitute protected forest groves, include mitigation of soil erosion and river-sedimentation problems. Tree maturation and reforestation trends are observed as well throughout the scene, notably in the gully areas, around the buildings, on the steep upper slopes, and along the ridgelines. According to key informants who examined the photographs, such increases in forest cover result from both land management by private individuals on household lands and the government forests that were established to protect the watershed.

The new houses in Figure 7 fit into the landscape. This assimilation is due partly to national building codes which require that all new structures conform to traditional architectural designs. The heights of buildings, rooflines, window treatments, and the use of construction materials are regulated in accordance with cultural stan- dards. The main exception to the traditional architectural features is the modern use of metal roofing, which now replaces wooden shingles in an effort to reduce the


FIGS. 6 and 7-Agricultural fields, the dzong, and hillsides in Bhutan’s Paro Valley, 1964 (above) and 2004 (below). (Top photograph by P. P. Karan, reproduced courtesy of the photographer; bottom photograph by the author)

GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS IN RHUTAN 675

demand for forest products. The overall effect of the building codes is a degree of aesthetic harmony maintained in the landscape, where old and new structures blend seamlessly into the newly built environment.

A second scene of the Par0 Valley is shown in Figures 8 (1964) and 9 (2004). They show a view looking northwest up the valley with the Royal Palace in the foreground. Changes in the palace grounds include a significant increase in tree cover and several new buildings. The valley floor retains much of its cultivated land, although some infilling has occurred with the construction of new homes (see the cluster of new homes in the left-upper center of Figure 9). The most obvious change is in the appearance of the town of Paro, which extends as a line of shops and government buildings along a narrow corridor beyond the palace. The growth of the town was influenced by the nearby airport, which was expanded in 1990 to accommodate jet aircraft and international flight connections. The population of Paro, estimated at 36,433, is growing at an annual rate of almost 7 percent ( R G B 2005).

Although significant gains in forest cover are observed on the mountainsides, the photographs demonstrate that infrastructure expansion can displace some farmland in the valley, suggesting pressure on agricultural resources. Recognizing this, town planners recently proposed that new growth in Par0 be directed to the slope land above the valley (in the center-left of the photographs), and some new settlement has already taken place there. A paved road was recently completed across the valley in order to better connect the Par0 business corridor near the river with the new development zone. A secondary location factor is that the commercial strip of Par0 near the river makes it vulnerable to seasonal floodwaters. This prob- lem is offset by a low levee that was constructed between the town and the river.

Urban growth in Bhutan is documented in a more stark way in Figures 10 (1964) and 11 (2004), which were taken from a similar vantage point on the east side of the Thimphu River. The early photograph shows an open plain of farmland below the monastery (upper center of the photograph). In the 2004 photograph, much of the area is occupied by the city of Thimphu, which became the capital of Bhutan only in 1961. The town population increased dramatically in the 1980s and 1990s-at an annual rate of 10 percent-and it currently stands at 46,000 inhabitants ( RGB 2005).

Notwithstanding its rapid appearance in the landscape, the town is remarkably clean and orderly. It benefits from water- and sewage-treatment facilities, vehicular traffic remains light-Thimphu often is remarked as the only capital in the world without a traffic light, which is still true-and its tallest buildings are restricted to a maxi- mum height of four stories. The Thimphu River runs along the outskirts of town through a designated greenbelt that also serves as a flood-control zone. Green spaces intersperse as well within the shopping and residential areas. The lack of polluting industries helps to keep the air fresh, and the hillsides above the city are covered with protected government forests.

The most notable comparison of the two photographs is the emergence of the nation’s capital on land that once was devoted solely to farming. The obvious loss


FIGS. 8 and *The royal palace of Bhutan, in the Paro Valley, 1964 (above) and 2004 ( b e h ) . (Top photograph by P. P. Karan, reproduced courtesy of the photographer; bottom photograph by the author).

GROSS NATIONAL H A P P I N E S S I N BHUTAN 677

FLGS. 10 and ii-This plain to the west of the Thimphu River, in Bhutan, was used for agriculture in 1964 (above), bu t the fields had disappeared by 2004, swallowed u p by the expanding urban area of Thimphu (below), founded in 1961 as the kingdom’s capital. (Top photograph by P. P. Karan, reproduced courtesy of the photographer; bottom photograph by the author).


is of agricultural land. To the extent that Bhutan’s cities continue to grow, they pose a challenge to the preservation of farmland and to the management of agricultural resources. This is a recognized concern amid continued population growth and migration. The capital city that has taken shape in the valley during the past forty years attempts, through its zoning and waste-management efforts, to manage urbanization in such a way as to blend environmental conservation with city life.

The overall trends observed in the photographs provide evidence for sustained environmental quality amid modernization trends. It is, of course, easy to edit photographs toward an intended effect, and the small number of images provided here cannot generalize conditions found throughout the country, but the paired photographs consistently show an absence of the kind of egregious land degradation com- monly found elsewhere in the Himalaya, and in many instances demonstrate actual improvements in land conditions. In conjunction with the generally positive state of Bhutan’s landscape, described earlier based on documentary evidence, the photograph pairs raise an optimistic note that, where prevailing environmental conditions are stable, a development strategy emphasizing conservation over material consumption, such as Bhutan’s, is effective in managing a sustainable use of the natural environment. That said, it remains uncertain whether Bhutan’s “Happiness Quotient”wil1 evolve into a truly effective model for development that has relevance elsewhere.

A KINGDOM I N TRANSITION

Travel accounts glowingly portray Bhutan as an enchanting, modern-day Shangri- la. They describe the country’s mountains, culture, and pure air in tones of almost mystical admiration. For the casual visitor, such descriptions indeed are apt-Bhutan truly is a form of paradise for many tourists (Pommaret 1991). A closer inspection, however, shows that the country is not without its challenges. Like other places similarly poised at the edge of the world, Bhutan balances its heritage against the demands of a global community. It seeks to preserve its natural history while ex- ploiting its environmental resources for national development, and it tries to con- serve its cultural history while opening up new horizons of choice and opportunity for its citizens. Like other places, Bhutan encounters both success and failure in its efforts.

Several concerns challenge the model of GNH. The goal of cultural preservation requires the resolution of ethnic conflicts, including those involving the Nepali residents and refugees. Economic development based on natural resource extraction will require effective enforcement of regulations embedded in the conservation policies; such enforcement currently suffers from a lack of manpower and the geographical conditions of isolation that obtain throughout much of the country. The environmental protection mandate solicits the participation of people and the cre- ation of protected areas. Currently, participation rates are high and benefit from Buddhist conservation ethics, but concern exists that as modernity encroaches on


traditional values the indigenous conservation practices may lose appeal. Good governance is considered to be a key ingredient in the GNH strategy. Bhutan is con- sidering the shift from an absolute monarchy to democracy. The GNH index is the idea of the king and is followed by his subjects. It is unclear how this would change with democratic practice.

Fundamentally, Bhutan is a lesson in practice; its challenges notwithstanding, the country has embarked on a strategy of development that is unique in the world and for that reason worthy of examination. The notion of happiness as a bench- mark of development has great inherent appeal. Although Bhutan’s unique circum- stances of geography and society suggest that its approach to development may not be easily transferred to other countries, and evidence suggests that Bhutan itself falls short in accomplishing its happiness goals, it still may provide inspiration to other places in the world by way of example.

NOTE I. This study of Bhutan benefits from half a century of geographical scholarship by P. P. Karan,

who first visited the kingdom in 1961 at the incitation of King Jigme Dorji X‘Vangchuck. At the time, Bhutan was ending its history of self-imposed isolation and embarking on the process of transform- ing itself from a self-contained rural society to a modern nation-state, and the country sought advice from outside experts on alternative approaches to development. Karan’s early fieldwork in Bhutan provides important baseline knowledge for this current assessment of environmental conditions in the country, and his 1964 photographs, some of which he graciously provided to the author for inclusion in this essay, are important visual records of landscape conditions at that time.

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Documents

GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL STATUS IN BHUTAN