Our Director Julian reports on his recent visit to Bhutan

Bhutan is a small country with a population of around 740,000, the majority of whom are Buddhist. Until recently the country was ruled by a royal family but in 2005 the much-loved King took the decision to abdicate in favour of his son and to create a parliamentary democracy with the first-ever elections being held in 2008.

The royal family is still very much respected, a fact we witnessed when we attended the annual dance festival in Paro overseen by the Queen. It seemed like most of the local population were out in force all wearing their very best traditional clothes. Indeed it is government policy to maintain such traditions and preserve the Bhutanese culture in the face of westernisation and development.

The previous fourth King who had so recently abdicated was the reason for us visiting Bhutan because it was he who 30 years ago announced that as well as pursuing economic development, commonly referred to as Gross Domestic Product, Bhutan would instead pursue Gross National Happiness. GDP as a measure of economic activity does not distinguish between those activities that increase a nation’s wealth and those that deplete its natural resources or result in poor health or widening social inequalities.

As the present King, His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck has said: “Today GNH has come to mean so many things to so many people, but to me it signifies simply – development with values. Thus for my nation today GNH is the bridge between the fundamental values of kindness, equality and humanity and the necessary pursuit of economic growth. GNH acts as our National Conscience guiding us towards making wise decisions for a better future.”

Buddhism in Bhutan connects people in a very real way to the landscape and the natural world with many of the pre-Buddhist nature spirits featuring in the temples. As a carbon-positive country which is 70% forest, the protection of the environment is a priority. There are however development pressures: for example, Bhutan’s largest earnings come from hydroelectric power which is sold to India.

As part of our visit we met with leaders from the NGO community including the first waste management company operating in the capital Thimphu and Clean Bhutan focusing on reducing consumption. In these you could see many of the arguments and debates that the west has wrestled with for decades beginning to play out in Bhutan. The key question seems to be can Bhutan forge a different path which allows a form of modernisation that doesn't threaten the environment or its cultural identity?

Tourism in Bhutan is strictly controlled in pursuit of high value but low numbers to minimise the impacts. In fact we were encouraged to view ourselves as pilgrims rather than tourists and this culminated in our last day pilgrimage to Tiger's Nest Monastery - the most sacred temple in Bhutan perched high on a cliff overlooking the Paro Valley.

I found the two and half hour climb at altitude very hard going not helped as I was overtaken by elderly Japanese visitors who were clearly much fitter than I!

Tigers Nest itself is a collection of temples including the cave where Guru Rinpoche, who is credited with bringing Buddhism to the country in the 8th century, first meditated for three months having flown to the site on the back of a tigress to subdue the local demon.

All the temples and monasteries we visited throughout our trip were special places that serve to connect local people to their cultural past but also a living breathing philosophy of which GNH is a modern manifestation.