‘CLIMATE CHANGE’ FROM THE LENS OF A TRAVELER
I started school in 1996 at Panbang, which is one of the remotest schools in the country. From primary school till university, I took a keen interest in all the subjects. However, we were left out of one topic- climate change.
Later on, after completing a university degree, with the evolution of technology and digital platforms, I was introduced to “Climate Change”. I assumed climate change was an exogenous concept because the contents and literature were from the west. The media platforms with the headlines highlighted the rising planetary crisis such as climate change, land degradation, biodiversity loss, etc. Coming from a very green country, climate change, I believed was a hoax.
After my education endeavor, I followed my passion for traveling and exploring my country, a kingdom that was well known around the world for its concept of Gross National Happiness GNH. Besides, my country is a global leader in environmental conservation, with a constitutional requirement to preserve at least 60% of the nation under forest cover at all times. Today, our forests absorb 9.4 million tons of carbon dioxide, three times what Bhutan emits, making it one of the few carbon-negative countries globally, and all of these noble initiatives are attributed to our visionary monarchs. They have championed the conservation of the environment with steadfast devotion and leadership.
The value of our own culture and nature attracted hundreds of tourists to Bhutan. I started my sojourn as a first travel blogger in Bhutan- the tourist’s within. I started hitting adventurous high notes by traveling to places in Bhutan that the people would not have known otherwise. I mostly traversed the most remote and sacred sites in the country, exploring & discovering nature’s wonderment, untrodden trails, local hospitality, culture and heritage, age-old traditions and customs—all that makes us truly blessed to be born in Bhutan.
As I was contemplating the values, culture, people, and in particular the nature, as much as I loved being in the wilderness, surrendering to the enormous mountains, and exploring places, some of the experiences left me rather heartbroken, and that’s where I gradually accepted the fact that “climate change was happening…”
Everything changed en route on my trek to Mt Gangkar Puensum, the second-highest unclimbed mountain in the world; the landscape was shocking. The nomad guiding me showed me some of the mountains, which now lay barren with red rocks where once snow-covered, followed by almost dried up Chamkar Chhu watershed that fed hundreds of people down the valley of Bumthang.
In terms of the social and economic lifestyle of the nomads, due to climate change and its repercussion, their migration habits are affected, and cordyceps collection patterns have become erratic, leaving the highlanders with a harsh livelihood. In addition, Bhutan saw major GOLF in 1994, which left a significant impact on people’s lives. In recent years, ten highlanders died after the tents they were living in were swept away by a landslide in Laya, for these incidences, climate change was blamed. But the question again is who is behind ‘climate change?
Due to the climate hazards, some vulnerable highlanders choose urban life leaving their home in the mountains for a better and easier livelihood. This immigration pattern also leaves their own culture and ethnicity at stake. Due to the consequences of climate change, it has become a threat to one’s culture.
Because of all these anecdotes I encountered and experienced, I decided to be the voice of the voiceless and faceless through storytelling.
