Skip to main content

Bold forestry projects and conservation of environment


When Bhutan opened its door to the outside world and embarked on the modernisation process in 1960s, it saw timber resources with its expansive forest cover as the primary source of government revenue.
The Royal Government of Bhutan (RGOB) in 1961 invited a Swedish team to investigate the possibilities of setting up forest industries. This team surveyed a forest area of 87,000 hectares around Paro and Thimphu valleys and they recommended for establishment of a news print mill with the production capacity of 100,000 tons a year or a kraft paper mill with a capacity of 50,000 tonnes a year.
A Japanese team in 1963 surveyed the forests in Haa, Paro and Thimphu valleys, and they recommended for establishment of 2 or 3 small ground wood pulp plants of 20 to 30 tons per day capacity in Haa, Paro and Thimphu. They also recommended setting up of a kraft plant in Phuntsholing with 50 tons per day capacity and an Indian team in 1970 recommended setting up a kraft paper mill with a capacity of 125 tons per day along with setting up integrated hardboard and particle board plants.
The primary purpose of the National Forest Policy 1974 was that, ‘forests must play the major part in meeting the national economic goal of self-reliance and the forests thus shall strive for 10 percent growth per annum and the forests must serve the vital national interest.’
I wonder what if these bold forestry projects would have been materialized!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Long, long, long journey to Education

“Root of the education is bitter but the fruit is sweet” no one would know about it better than Kado. The fatigue of having to toddle to the school, fever of unending exams, the torture of having to burn the midnight oil, dozing in classes and the stern rigors are hard to endure, few even give up on the way but many endure it with utmost determination and commitment, because deep inside everyone knows it pays later. “Root of the education is bitter but the fruit is sweet” no one would know about it better than Kado Kado in the tender age of 12 is negotiating the lazily meandering footpath along the steep mountain. His school bag, full of books, pulls him back. His black naughty boy school shoe is all soiled, indication of how many times he has trudged that same footpath. He is on his way to the primary school in his village, almost 5 kilometers away. He has to make sure he is in the school before morning social work starts; else he gets penalized. Unlike the students who reside nearb...
Post a Comment
Read more

Defining Tsa-Wa-Sum in One’s own Perspective

If I am asked, I would boldly answer, “The Tsa-Wa-Sum is “Gyeb, Gyelkhab and Meser”, (King, Country and People). But not everyone knows about what tsa-wa-sum is. Hence, when the superior ask them, they are left to conceive their own tsa-wa-sum. Once a meeting was convened by the Dzongdag. In a large congregation of illiterate rural people, the Dzongdag thundered, “do you know what tsa-wa-sum is?” “Can anyone from the crowd tell me?” The crowd went to pin drop silence and no one seems ready to answer. Are they scared of Dasho or no one has the slightest idea what it is? Suddenly, a Ngalop man sitting in the last bench, for whom Dasho is hardly visible, stood up. With his head bowed low, he answers, “The three tsa-wa-sum are Ngalops, Sharchops and Lhotsampas”. “This is because they are the three race in Bhutan” Dasho went into bout of annoyance but before he fired the man, another Lhotsampa (Southern Bhutanese Man) supplemented, “the three tsa-wa-sum are Royal Bhutan Army (RBA) Royal B...
1 comment
Read more

Eternal Enemies

The Cats and Dogs are often adopted by the people in the metropolitan as pets. They go pretty good as pets since they are known to be endearing animals. Some set of folks have their paramount love and passion for these animals. But back in the village, these two creatures are mainly spared space in the home to shoulder their own responsibilities. For instance, the cat is entrusted with the job of dwindling or keeping at the sea bed, the number of rats referred to as naughty rodents in the village. And the dog cannot keep eating what the owner provides and sleep. At night, they have to escort the owners into the corn field and keep barking to keep away, the lurking night’s ambusher (deer, bears, porcupine, and wild pig etcetera). So, I see no overlapping of their right to food and duties. But, many might have surely taken the notice of these two four legged animal never tolerating each other’s presence. One fine day they meet but await a big confrontation. The sight of one another inv...
2 comments
Read more