You’ve heard of Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness Index, yes? The country measures happiness among its people the way we measure economic output. One of the pillars of Bhutan’s GNH is conservation. Its constitution declares that the country must preserve 60 percent of its land under forest cover at all times. It protects more of its land than any other country in Asia.
As a result, the country is richly carpeted in robust, healthy, thriving forests, crisscrossed with rivers and streams. One-fifth of the world’s population gets its drinking water from the watersheds in Bhutan. The entire country is carbon negative—the only such nation in the world, according the WWF.
Bhutan takes conservation very, very seriously.
This is embodied in Sonam Phuntsho. He is a forest caretaker who has planted more than 100,000 trees over the past 50 years. Or roughly five trees per day. He does it because he loves trees. He does it because he hopes kids will take notice and inspired to do the same. He does it to combat, in his own way, climate change. He does it because when he is in the forest and the trees, he is at peace.
Matthew Firpo’s film “Kingdom” is a beautiful look at Sonam Phuntsho’s work and how Bhutan protects its environment.
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that man is an inspiration and so is Bhutan
What a dream come true it would be to visit this Country, interact w/it’s people, & bring home some of their ideas & culture.
You are very welcome anytime…. please do let us know if you need any assistance arranging your trip to Bhutan. Email us : bhutantourister@gmail.com or visit our website: http://www.bhutantourister.com
@Terri
You are very much welcome to visit our country. You can always get in touch with
http://www.bhutanmountainbike.com or write to
bhutanmba2008@gmail.com
Wow. Another great reason why we love being partnered with such an amazing country.
He is a Natural man. No mixture of greed, power, laziness and material possession. He is earthly, because he is down to earth. I am inspired. Whenever I shoot a movie scene in a green forest I think of him and pray for his incarnations and not of others.
A true champion of conservation in Bhutan, and I trust the world will also recognize the nature of interdependent co-existence by way of conserving our natural world. All be auspicious for Ata Sonam and I salute you!
He is the true definition of a hero.
ATA Sonam is a very modest gentleman. His patience, commitment and hardwork are exlempary. If everybody is genuine about big terms like saving the planet from global warming or building peace on earth, let us evoke the little ata Sonam Phuntsho in ourselves and do our little part. Together we can make a difference. Thank you for acknowledging unspoken heros like ata Sonam. Kudos ata Sonam and wish you more power and happiness.
Well done to the Bhutan’s great man la
We love our Country
Great going Ata Sonam, a true hero with GREAT initiatives to conserve our woods. I am truly blessed to be a Bhutanese and a citizen of this GREAT country called BHUTAN.