Bhutan contributes US$ 15.5 B worth of environmental services to other countries, every year. According Ecosystem Services Journal 2013 published in Australia, Bhutan is one of the highest donor countries in the world in terms of ecosystem services. An Australian professor, Ida Kubiszewski and his team had conducted the research.
“This should be a proud moment for Bhutan when we dedicate to the 60th Birth Anniversary of His Majesty the King.
This, I think, is a biggest achievement from Bhutan’s side because now we are able to convince people that material wealth is not important compared to the wellbeing wealth that we have always emphasised on,” said Researcher, Sangay Wangchuk from Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and Environment in Bumthang.
Sangay Wangchuk said Bhutan can probably comfortably say or claim that the country is actually donating to the international community the ecosystem services that Bhutan has.
According to the journal, Bhutan’s contribution helps around one third of the world’s population. For example, glaciers in Bhutan are a major source for Bramaputra River in Assam. The journal states that if Bhutan does not protect its glacier lakes, the entire Bramaputra would be flooded claiming millions of lives and destroying huge settlements in eastern parts of India.
Bhutan is also home to many endangered species. Bhutan absorbs rising greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide, emitted due to human activity in the region and releases fresh oxygen benefiting the region.
During a seminar on sustainable development goals and conservation at the Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and Environment in Bumthang, the Chairman of the World Wildlife Fund in Finland, Tarja K. Halonen said Bhutan must be loud in expressing the views and experience on its conservation policy.
