Page 29 - Fourways Gardens September 2020

Nature

Thimpu Dzong (DS) Trashigang Dzong – Monastery Monks (DS)

It was interesting

to see how monks

as young as

four years old

live their lives

of dedicated

Buddhism

every day.

the Kingdom of Bhutan is the jewel of
the eastern Himalayas, having one of the
world’s most valuable, unique and intact
ecosystems. The extreme variations in
altitude and climate also account for its
remarkable assemblage of vertebrates. Chorten (Shrine) and Prayer Flags - Dochu La (Pass) (DS)

There are: Himalayas and 50 to Bhutan itself. that sustainable tourism and Gross
• more than 100 species of mammals National Happiness matter more than
including Snow Leopard, Bengal The progressive and enlightened Gross Domestic Product. Unlike its nearby
Tiger, Blue Sheep, Musk Deer, Bhutan conservation policies adopted by the Royal neighbour, Nepal, whose economy is
Takin, Red Panda, Greater One-horned Government operate on the premise of largely financially dependent on tourism,
Rhinoceros, and Golden Langur (an environmental and cultural connectivity Bhutan has limited its investment in
endemic primate); with socioeconomic development tourism to the upgrading of infrastructure,
• 620 bird species including Rufous- thereby controlling both its pace and roads and accommodation in the western
necked Hornbill, Black-necked Crane direction to ensure sustainability. Foreign part of the country.
and Pallas’s Fish Eagle; visitors are required to pay a minimum
• and more than 5 400 plant species, of tariff of US$250 per day, making it a very Bhutan’s population is around 770 000,
which 750 are endemic to the eastern expensive destination – as they believe and the people are industrious, very

Fourways Gardens • 27 • September 2020