Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
to the targets, but their aim was uncanny. From my windowsill seat, the ring of pagodas and
banners of prayer flags framed a tableau from the Middle Ages.
By contrast, this dry-season journey of April 2005 promised fine weather in place of mon-
soons. Himalayan spring had arrived, and Bhutan's spectacular rhododendron forests were
bursting into color. The Himalayas are the center of diversity for the genus of “rose trees”; of
more than 850 species worldwide, more than 60 are native to Bhutan. Some are dwarf alpine
varieties found at timberline, and others, such as those in the Black Mountains, grow thirty
meters tall. Some are widespread and abundant, while others have quite localized distribu-
tions globally. The narrow ranges of some of these endemic “rhodies” added to Bhutan's long
list of rarities. Because Bhutan lies in the eastern zone of the Himalayas, monsoons tend to
last longer than in Nepal, and more rain falls. With wetter conditions come more species of
plants and, with the incredibly steep topography, more chance for isolation of species. All of
these factors greatly increase Bhutan's rarity quotient.
My invitation for this visit came from Kinzang Namgay, head of the WWF's Bhutan pro-
gram. He had arranged an enticing itinerary, accompanied, as required, by a Bhutanese chap-
erone. No traveler in Bhutan, or naturalist, goes it alone here. Our journey began with an
initial southern excursion, a descent from Thimpu to the edge of Manas National Park. The
actual trek would commence at the wintering spot of Bhutan's black-necked cranes, high in
the Phobjikha Valley in central Bhutan, and continue through extensive old growth. Aside
from the rarities I wished to see and learn about, I was eager for the chance to explore one of
the rarest habitats on Earth, extensive tracts of ancient temperate broad-leaved forest.
With an endowment estimated at $30 million in 2012, Bhutan's conservation trust fund
pays the annual operating costs of a network of protected areas and biodiversity corridors that
together cover almost 35 percent of the country. By government decree, the full Himalay-
an spectrum—from lowland jungles to snow-covered peaks—receives protection. Far from
being stuck in the Middle Ages, in the field of nature conservation Bhutan has bypassed all
industrialized nations and emerged in the lead.
The government's decision to ban export logging in its heavily timbered forests is remark-
able, since logging, legal and illegal, may be the single greatest threat to the forests of Asia
and the persistence of rare species. Logging could be highly lucrative in the short term, but
Bhutan's leaders had noticed that in neighboring countries rampant corruption associated
with export logging was a cancer, one that could spread rapidly to other sectors of society.
In addition, denuded forests and subsequent landslides and siltation would have diminished
the country's most profitable export—hydropower sold to India. So, amazingly, they chose
to abstain entirely from the destructive industry despite the cash it could bring in.
Bhutan's notable conservation achievements were promoted by a young king who coined
the term “gross national happiness” as a novel metric to assess the well-being of his subjects.
Protecting a healthy natural environment, conserving the native flora and fauna, and restoring
