In pursuit of happiness

In pursuit of happiness Sustainability Models and Blueprints of Thimphu, Bhutan Abhimanyu Goel A0137134M

Words: 4,599

“As Buddhist country, values integrated where they say material/wealth/money, that’s not the end, these are just a means to reach a certain end, i.e. Happiness”.

A Bhutanese Citizen

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ABSTRACT

We have a community of species where we don’t understand our responsibility for protecting the environment; our ethics are limited towards certain lines. Every action we do, is and entity of a system; a system which is always in a loop. Whether that is connected no matter directly or indirectly to nature, but nature always responds back, there is no escape. This research was to have insights from the world views on Human-Nature Symbiosis.

The title, “In pursuit of happiness” is a thought which not only caters to a certain species with an anthropocentric approach(human), but an overall bio centric approach(nature) where happiness that comes from within, in nature of everything, animal, plant, human or environment.

The environment does not impose anything on us. It’s an equilibrium which has to be maintained by itself. It is like something which is into existence because it had to exist, like it’s the nature of happiness; it may or may not cater to human beings, but it exists, something intangible.

Nature can’t be defined perfectly because it’s the character of something; it’s the DNA which exists in a matter.

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WORLD VIEWS AND THEIR METAPHORS IN THE HUMAN-NATURE RELATIONSHIP The“quality of life of both”humans beings and other species of Earth have drastically reduces because of the human activities which is considered a sorrowful plight came into being at the beginning of millennium. Many attempts on all stages of civil society, countries, business and government levels have been done to redress the alarming situation.“The bitter truth is that no lasting or real progress in the situation of improving the quality of planet and its people can be done without critical assessment of implicit worldviews and society’s value systems.”

American Botanist Botkin states that: “The potential for us to make progress with environmental issues is limited by the basic assumptions that we make about nature, the unspoken, often unrecognized perspective from which we view our environment. This perspective, ironically in the scientific age, depends on myth and deeply buried beliefs. In order to gain a new view, one necessary to deal with global environmental problems, we must break free of old assumptions and old myths about nature and ourselves, while building on the scientific and technical advances of the past.”

These assessment of the views of the world and the relationship to Nature with its entities should be of paramount importance. To human beings, metaphors are on the primary means from which we conceptualize our world. We assimilate our experiences and make perceptions based on them; to project one domain of knowledge to another domain and understand in terms of other experience.

Learning “Symbiosis” and “Sustainability” from Nature “During the 4600 million history of Earth, living organisms have appeared historically. The gradual diversification of life formulated a stable and relatively complex ecosystem. As we can say in other words, the terms sustainability and symbiosis have been acquired by the ecosystem slowly through diversification. It will be wise to recall the complex evolution of our ecosystem for finding the answers as we humans are also a part of biosphere who have benefitted from the ecosystem.”

“The word Symbiosis is an ecological term which means a long relationship, living organisms which include human beings having a relationship on Earth with the other species and organisms provided without going extinct.A mutual harmony fundamentally required for securing human race sustainably. It is researched by biologists that the “evolution of organisms began from symbiosis of living organisms. For example, according to a theory by Margulis (1967), anaerobic bacteria were dominant during the time of limited free oxygen on Earth. When free oxygen began to accumulate into the atmosphere from the evolution of cyanobacteria, survival of anaerobic bacteria became difficult. At this point, aerobic bacteria were then utilized by anaerobic bacteria”, and “symbiosis” evolved.”

Symbiosis and Sustainability through the Lens of Buddhism “ As explained above, the potential causes of civilizations collapse can be attributed to the eventual limitations in resources of Earth, where the “human-sphere” grows, the influence of the human beings on the surface of the earth are large, and shortage of food and water resources with increasing of population.

We can now consider ways to avoid the downfall of human civilization by reducing the consumption rate of substances and energy, and controlling the “desires” of people as factors which determine the 3

consumption rate of resources. As a matter of symbiosis and sustainability through the lens of buddhism 57 course, if the expansion of human desires can be controlled, we will be able to reduce the consumption rate. Thus, we must focus and control human desires. In addition, the following concepts are considered as lessons that can be learned from the natural history of living organisms. By selecting “symbiosis” from “parasitism,” living organisms were able to overcome the causal downfalls from environmental change, and were capable of forming a “sustainable” network of interconnected organisms. Moreover, “small -size” was shown to be an important factor for acquisition of “sustainability,” since it enhances the adaptability to changing environments. So to speak, the direction towards “symbiosis” from “parasitism” means “specialization” between living organisms in the biosphere. In other words, living organisms must live harmoniously together rather than dominantly acquire resources for themselves. Therefore, symbiosis which exchanges resources or shares capabilities is considered to be an inevitable solution to our curre nt problems.”

SYMBIOSIS OF BUDDHIST PERSPECTIVE WITH THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT Relationship of Buddhism and Environmental Problems: “The question of dealing with environmental problems with Buddhism arises, to answer this; I would like to discuss the example to Mahayana Buddhism who acknowledges nature parallel to the early thoughts in Buddhism, Mahayana also recognizes environment as essential part of life in a positive perspective. The concept of origination in Buddhism refers that an entity cannot exist independently; instead, every entity exists in co relations with other entities and conditions pertaining to them. The essence of such concepts recognizes real value of nature. The concepts from Mahayana have evaluated the environment as a part of a balanced ecological system.In Mahayana Buddhism, Bodisattva is the Sanskrit term for anyone who is motivated by great compassion, attains Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings. Pollution and environmental destruction cause biological extinction and degrade the ecosystem. This process disobeys the spirit of Bodhisattva’s compassion for all living things for an inter relationship. “ Buddhist teachings recognize the interdependency or interconnection of everything.

“Thus, the actual destruction and pollution of the environment becomes a goal for Bodhisattva’s to overcome. Currently, human desire of material things is a necessary condition for the maintenance and the development of the socioeconomic system in society. Thus, environmental problems are not only an appearance of negative or evil passions and desires (bonno), but also a causation and manifestation of amplifying negative passions. It is necessary for the theoretical way of the practicing Bodhisattva to overcome negative passions and to change the socioeconomic system in motion that further fuels negative and evil passions. From a Mahayana Buddhist perspective it is inevitable for environmental problems or issues to occur, but the purpose of Buddhism and the theoretical way of the practicing Bodhisattva is to overcome these problems as mentioned above.””

The Philosophy of Half Earth A question addressed by biologist E.O. Wilson, “whether the world really needs to set Aside Half of the planet for nature and wildlife” is concerning many Author who is Pulitzer Prize famed, coined the word “biophilia” and the philosophy of “Island Biogeography” which explains about the uneven distribution of human colonization and nature.

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If this happens, he sees many opportunities for the species not to vanish unlike in the current truth.

According to him, human beings spread across the globe starting from Africa around 60,000 years ago. As people arrived, other living species got vanished and extinct slowly at first and at a high rate now. If this is going to be the speed, he suspects a biological holocaust is coming soon which will in turn lead to the mass extinction of the livings beings because of one species- we humans!

Wilson could only look through one solution: If we keep aside half of the earth for permanent protection of 10 million other species apart from human beings. Half Earth, he calls half for them and half for us.

After having said all this, the question is not deeply about calculation or a good idea or a bad, it’s about how to get there, about really wild landscapes which can accommodate national biodiversity parks or maybe a new kind of an ecosystem, that won’t let other 10 million species to vanish unknowingly.

It’s not about the question of greening anymore in this perspective; it’s about having huge and long landscapes, wild land chains which could also in turn cater to the climate change. For example the initiative in the Western part of the world called Yellowstone to Yukon.Past examples also show us how the forests have been degraded like the ‘Piney Woods’, which is called the signature ecosystem in American South-East which once covered 90 million acres but now reduced by 97 percent leaving about 3 million acres of Pines left. On the global scale, the coral reefs have been destroyed about 20 percent or the similar cases with Amazon rainforest which have also been degraded more than 20 percent.

There is a place which had already imposed this idea of Half Earth long before Wilson, Bhutan, where all the things are filtered through the lens of Gross National Happiness; Bhutan in the previous years, had already taken a serious proactive approach for maintaining the integrity of its biodiversity and ecosystem by protecting and developing large areas interconnected with biological corridors.

The Forestry’s Nature Conservation Division and Ministry of Agriculture in Bhutan reported in 2009 that 10 protected areas adding to 16,500 square km contributing to 42% of Bhutan’s surface area combining with 3,300 square km in bio-corridors contributing to 8.5% surface area. Thus Bhutan has 51% area under protection.

Bhutan is committed to maintain 60% of total area of Bhutan to forest cover at all the times which also included active reforestation projects in order to increase the efforts.

Bhutan’s philosophy of Gross National Happiness has a major consideration for Biodiversity conservation, a unifying approach of planning and management in the country which is based on true development of the society happens when emotional, spiritual and material well-being takes place side by side to reinforce and complement each other.

As one of the four pillars, conservation of the environment means “ensuring development pursuits are within the limits of environmental sustainability and are carried out without impairing the biological productivity and diversity of the natural environment.”

David Ropeik, Harvard University instructor states that the human’s anthropocentric arrogance, which is to think that humans are a permanent part of nature which is really more complex and rich than we appreciate, in his opinion, nature is really resilient and powerful and humans can’t overcome it, hence it will be alive log after we have gone.

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Asian City: Thimphu, Bhutan

“• Area = 26 sq km • Population = 79,185 (2005) - 672,000 (overall) - 40% of National Urban Population & 12.5 % National Population • Density - 3,030 people/SqKM • Growth rate = 10 - 12 % • The 1st Comprehensive Plan approved in 2003” 6

Vegetation Cover: Bhutan Study “The area is protected from development under current land use regulations. Environmental conservation laws decree that forest cover in Bhutan not drop below 65–70% (RGoB, 1999). Thimphu lies in the temperate zone, dominated by Bhutan’s best example of blue pine forest. Higher altitudes above Thimphu valley support a mixture of spruce, oak, pine and poplar. Wildlife in the hills surrounding Thimphu includes bear and leopard, snipes, woodcock, and crane varieties. Marshlands support duck, goose, Himalayan and common Kingfisher, lapwing and piper varieties, and bronze winged jacana. The takin, Bhutan’s rare national animal that resembles a small bison, finds shelter in a reserve on the city outskirts (TSP, 2005, from National Environmental Com-mission, Nature Conservation Division, Ministry of Agriculture, and Royal Society for Protection of Nature). According to the Ministry of Agriculture (MoWHS, 2005), Thimphu’s forest cover accounted for 56% of land cover, followed by pasture at 17%, agriculture at almost 2% and settlement occupying only .54%, based on analysis of remotely sensed images.”

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Land Cover in Bhutan (%)

River Systems of Bhutan

History of Bhutan: The first dynasty which came to power in 1907 was Wangchuck Dynasty by uniting a group of chieftains.

The fourth king of the same dynasty, Jigme Singye Wangchuk assumed power in July 1972 when he was 17 years of age because of the untimely death of his father. The new king brought new era of sagacity and wisdom. India helped him laying the foundation of peaceful economic development and political stability.

Until 1980s, Bhutan was sought preserving its geographical isolation, a country which preferred to let the world go by.

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The rule gradually changed under the fourth king. The ki ng transferred his most powers to a group of Council Ministers who were nominated by elections, which in turn diluted the concentration of power of the throne of king. Secondly, in 1999, the king further allowed both internet and television to make an entry in Bhutan which was banned before 1999 in the country.

Finally, when he was 50 years of age, in Dec. 2005, the announcement of his abdication from the throne which favored his elder son, Jigme Namgyel Wangchuk. Hence a new constitution came into being where Bhutan was converted into a democracy with constitutional monarchy led by the king in 2008.

This decision led to confusion in many; perhaps the king had an answer to that. The king ‘Jigme Wangchuk’ knew that the globalization which is growing rapidly in the world, Bhutan would not be able to sustain its path of isolation; by looking at the neighboring countries like Nepal and its developments, he new that there would be a democratic challenge sooner or later to a pure monarchy. In the view of this, he chose the most un anticipated decision of initiating the change himself, and perhaps for the perpetuation of the Namgyal Dynasty.

Today, Bhutan is an absolute democratic country. The king remains above the democratic obligations but bound by the constitution.

The Constitution also mandates that a monarch must compulsorily retire at the age of 65. Democracy, albeit with a strong Bhutanese flavor, has come to stay in the Forbidden Kingdom, and India, as the world’s largest democracy, can only welcome it.

Buddhism Symbiosis for nature: “Symbiosis, needless to say, fundamentally means mutualism.

However, a symbiotic relationship is not a predetermined harmony. It respects mutual independence and individuality.

Symbiosis in essence refers to a positive relationship in which two or more parties try to understand each other, despite mutual confrontation or difference. It is also connected to relationships that stimulate a level of creativity impossible for either party to achieve alone. Therefore, free competition and symbiosis are not contradictory at all. Consequently, we can identify a strong tide of tradition in the history of Buddhism for seeing human beings and nature, the part and the whole, as existing in symbiosis.”

Social Setting Bhutan has 69% agrarian community according to 2005 population census in Bhutan, but as we see in other countries as well, more people are flocking in the urban areas leaving behind their rural culture for instance from 1985 to 2005, the population living in urban areas increased from 13% to 30% of the total population of Bhutan.

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The literacy rate of Bhutan is around 52% adults considering people who are above 15 years of age.

The average life expectancy in Bhutan is about 66 years which is a big improvement from the past when in 1980s, it was around 48 years which was a result of involvement of the new constitution which gave access to free facilities like health, education, sanitation and improved nutrition.

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Land use changes in Thimphu study area during 1990−2008

Urban growth and water quality in Thimphu, Bhutan Analyses of satellite imagery of 1990 and 2008 utilizing GIS revealed that over a period of eighteen years the forest, scrub and agricultural areas have decremented whereas urban area and road network have incremented considerably. The forest cover, agriculture area and scrub decremented from 43.3% to 42.57%, 6.88% to 5.33% and 42.55% to 29.42%, respectively. The rapid development of urban infrastructure in Thimphu city may be posing solemn threats to water regime in terms of its quality.

Though the deterioration of water quality is restricted to a few localized areas, the trend is solemn and needs opportune attention of policy planners and decision makers. Congruous treatment of effluents from urban areas is exigently needed to reduce water pollution in such affected areas to check further deterioration of the quality. This present study which is predicated on upstream, within urban area and downstream of Thimphu city can be considered as an ocular perceiver opener.

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Land use land cover map of 1990 and 2008

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Issues in Bhutan The biggest causes of land degradation in Bhutan are forest fires, overgrazing, poor irrigation management system, unsustainable agricultural practices, mining, industrial development, urbanization and infrastructure development neglecting environmental measures.

According to the authorities, forest fires affecting 19,230 hectares of land have been reported from 200820013 occurred majorly in the same areas. “Almost all the forest fires in Bhutan are caused by human beings, either intentionally or accidentally.(94% energy in village from fuel-wood and 6% in urban areas).”

“Traditional Bhutanese Architecture requires extensive usage of timber in construction as a result of degradation of wood as a resource in those areas. To control this, government has set up Forest Management Units to ensure sustainable wood harvesting which take account in the growing and cutting stock and balance between the two.

In Bhutan, an important economic activity among the rural communities is livestock rearing. Due to which overgrazing emerges as a factor which contributes to degradation of land. “ In spite of authorities encouraging the rearing of small productive herds of livestock, local people on the other hand tend to maintain large amount of livestock which is a status symbol and considered good for religious sentiments.

Livestock Population (Major Species) 199 1

“Unsustainable farming practices exist mainly in the form of prolonged and imbalances use of inorganic fertilizers, farming on terrain without water and soil conservation measures is a major concern.

Construction of roads and infrastructure by heavy machinery is environmentally disregardful which pose a threat to the topography and fragile geographical conditions.

Recently, mining has emerged one of the fastest economic sectors in the country specially, the mining of gypsum and dolomite. Dolomite production increased in from 0.39 in 2002 to 1.50 MMT 1 in 2012 and gypsum from 0.10 to 0.30 MMT”

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MMT: Million metric tons

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The biggest impact of mining are fissure development and land disturbance from various actions such as drilling, blasting, site clearing etc.; uncontrolled mining is a major issue which pose a threat to the fragile environment of Bhutan. Due to these destructive activities by unauthorized businessmen, stringent laws and regulations are in place but are not effectively enforced due to lack of internal coordinatio n between the agencies.

Large numbers of industries also rely on extraction of resources such as wood, minerals and metals, the no. of forest based industries were increased from 470 in 2006 to 954 in 2012 and mineral industries increased from 90 to 235 in Bhutan which is enormous.

Urban Population Distribution 2013 (40% in Thimphu (Sk Noim Uddina, 2007))

Urbanization in Bhutan after the millennium, took a major push and it was estimated that in 2002, the urban population has already increased to 15% from the past. A surprise came through by PHCB 2 that in 2013, the percentage of urban population was further increased from 15% to 30% i.e. doubled in a decade. “More than half of the urban population was concentrated in two major cities of Bhutan; Thimphu and Phuentsholing. These have caused problems related to environment such as air and water pollution, drinking water shortage, congestion of traffic, land degradation, unhandled municipal waste. �

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PHCB: Population and Housing Census of Bhutan

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Projection of Waste Generation in Thimphu

According to TCC3, solid waste condition has been growing exponentially concentrated in the urban areas, especially in the 2 metro cities of Bhutan.

The waste generation in Thimphu is projected to increase from 51 tons per day to 130 tons pe r day from 2010 to 2030 in a span of 20 years which is alarming. The problem aggravates by the lack of landfills and improper waste segregation system.

“On a positive note, the population in general would not pose a major problem as a balance to the resources available to the country naturally. However to note, the geographically skewed distribution of the population causes imbalance on the local resources and facility management systems.

Poverty is a concern in Bhutan, as majority of population lives in the rural areas and relies on farming as their family earning. It is estimated that 12 percent of country’s population live below the National Poverty Line. Land degradation and poverty are both inextricably linked. The poor people in the country are dependent on wide range of ecosystem services for their living. As a result, it is only poor communities who bear the consequences of land degradation in a country.”

A fact that Bhutan’s per capita fuel-wood consumption is the highest in the world, as compared to its one of the smallest country size.

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TCC: Thimphu City Corporation

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“Principles of Intelligent Urbanism: Case of new capital plan for Bhutan Studies indicate that Thimphu’s population will grow from 47,000 to 150,000 people by 2027. The valley is already facing problems such as traffic congestion, housing shortage, pollution, and chaotic building patterns etc.

The capital of the kingdom was shifted to Thimphu in 1950s, the first motorable road reached Thimphu in 1962 and over the past 3 decades rapid transformation has occurred.

The country is exporting energy due to its hydroelectric projects. From one of the least developed countries (LDC) a mere two decades back, Bhutan’s growing per capita income has placed it as the richest nation in the region in terms of per capita production. Rapid growth in turn has also brought in many new problems with it, as people move to towns, the environment is eroded and the consumption distribution becomes skewed.

The royal government has adapted quickly to numerous crises over past few decades , making Gross National Happiness as the singular national goal from which a number of objectives have emerged.

Thimphu is a humble city with a fragile environment; the valley needs green cover on hillsides, protecting the Wang Chhu River from sitting up and flooding. The city needs space for the avifauna and fauna that maintain the fragile balance amongst a wide variety of flora and soils. The city cannot overload these fragile soils, which hold back the land from sliding down the river basin.”

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The plan “The first plan for Thimphu was prepared in around 1980s when the population was 8,000. Until then, the valley-city was under populated and the Royal Government used incentives to attract investors to land development and building construction. Scenarios have dramatically changed over past decade when the land was practically given away. The influx of population in the capital and the expansion of the government, during this period, several documents and constitution have been prepared. ”

Common set of Principles of Intelligent Urbanism (IU) What is necessary to allay this pending disaster is a common set of principles, on which all should agree and act by. Such an urban code would be the essence of human ascendance and the civil society, which is what civilization, is all about. Where people come and live peacefully in a common set of civil principles, a civil society is born. The word “Civil” is derived from an ancient word for CITY The capital plan of Thimphu proposes that a unique set of civi l principles, which guide a city’s urban growth, urban management and planning over the coming century, be based on approaches we may call Intelligent Urbanism.

The principles:

A balance with nature

There must be a balance between nature and human endeavor

Vision

Every decision must be based on a broad vision of the future

Institutional Integrity

Have a strong and rational institutional framework to define U.D.

Balanced Movement

Movement and transport in the city & urban region as a whole entity

Regional Integration

I.U. sees the city as part of larger social, economic & geo organism

Opportunity Matrix

City is an engine of economic growth and human development

Human Scale

Promote people friendly places, public domains for people

Efficiency

Promotes a balance between performance and consumption

Conviviality

Society which is interactive, socially engaging & offer opportunities

A balance with tradition

Respect the cultural heritage of the place

Though the fact that Bhutan has a factor called GNH which is equally valued as their GDP is very unique to the country and is appreciable, it is equally important to understand the parameters which need to be addressed at the planning level. Biophilia, human wellness, urban development etc.

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Its really imp for country that happiness is an equal worth of economy GNH is considering factors which can combat environmental issues that the nation is facing today The king injected this idea which is driving Bhutan to a net carbon sink as a result The constitution imposes forest cover on the country One of the few biodiversity hotspots Generate 2.2 mil tons co2 but forest sequesters 3 times co2 that means net carbon sink of more than 4 mil tons Carbon sink and offsetting carbon: carbon negative Flash floods and glacier Bhutan’s Electric vehicle initiative We see that in spite of such rich natural environment and resources, Thimphu, Bhutan is suffering from the challenges of a neo-modern city

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Conclusion: WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN: Humans should play this game in partnership of equilibrium with nature. We can’t own 51% stakes and say we are the boss, it’s not a business. We are a part of Nature.

It is really imp for a city to be sustainable to enhance livability. Though, t he case of Bhutan would rather be a good one, but I am pretty sure that we have really bad examples from the other parts of Asia. As Asia moves away from Green and towards sustainability and beyond, we need to look in present with a lens of the future We need philosophies which cater to the growing changes, we can’t change the mindset of the communities with a sudden new thought or idea, rather, a new perspective which infuses the ways with which things work.There should be awareness at the global level which informs the people about the values of biodiversity, the green and blue.We need to mandate certain policies which cater to a holistic approach for the mutual benefit of nature’s ingredients in which humans play a major part, rather an opposite part as we humans think of ourselves as a different entity altogether who are disjointed and above every other entity in nature Development is inevitable, we can’t ignore urbanization, but we need to look upon the ways we achieve development. We need to rework on our meaning of development. We need certain ideas that cater to an intelligent urbanization and on the other hand, to fulfill those ideas in a well-managed way. Someone said that to reduce consumption to more sustainable, we will have to go back to the lifestyle of 1970s, to me, this idea is naïve because there is always an alternative way which need to be given priority and would lead to a better environment and lifestyle. We need a shift from a culture of consumerism to a culture of sustainability, having said that; consumerism is not just about how money is spent, it is about what are the ideas which money is catering to, we need to stop thinking in terms of our own greedy nature, we are a part of an ecosystem and we need to understand that.

On the whole, I would like to conclude that in my opinion, we can’t achieve an equilibrium state in this world, one or the other species had to be dominant, I think that is nature, but above all, should be a harmony, a respect for other things in an environment which would cater to a prolonged sustainable lifestyle.

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Reference based on Interviews and recorded videos of people: Aakanksha Jain Rakesh Srivastava: Civil Engineer, Thimphu, Bhutan Tshoki Zangmo: Centre for Bhutan Studies Christa Larwood: Travel Journalist Zhangmo Family: Farmer under poverty line, who tries to remain happy Lama Kado: Tiger’s Nest Monastery (you have to be mentally prepared for happiness vs. peace. It doesn’t matter where you are, Happiness is a question of mindset)

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