Nestling in the heart of the Himalayas and protected by a complex geography of high mountains and deep valleys, Bhutan is certainly one of the most mysterious countries in the world (Dompnier, 1999). The intriguing yet profound tale of the transformation of this traditional kingdom, without losing out on its traditional norms and values while embarking on a modern course of development in the last half a century has been both a story of sustainable and progressive development in harmony with its natural environment. Small and landlocked, to the north lies the great Tibetan plateau and to the south, the tropical Indian plains and jungles.
Today, the proportion of land under forest cover is 72.5%, including shrub forest (2008). The need to live in harmony with rather than against nature has never been illustrated better. When Global Warming is now an accepted universal “Inconvenient Truth,” the need to preserve, conserve and respect the air we breathe.
