Nature – Page 2 – Tshering Tobgay

Rehabilitating a cub

June 21, 2009Nature2 Comments

Earlier today we visited a bear cub. This little cub turned up in Jengkana school in Haa, a day after the recent flash floods. She was probably separated from her mother during the floods. Forestry officials quickly took the cub to the Wildlife Management and Rehabilitation Centre in Taba. She’ll stay there – with another resident, an orphaned leopard kitten – there till she’s old enough to be reintroduced in the pine forests of Haa.

Social forestry day

June 2, 2009Nature

Today, 2nd June, is social forestry day. It is also the day when, 35 years ago, we celebrated the coronation of His Majesty the King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck. What's the connection? It's quite straightforward: Our Fourth Druk Gyalpo, despite heavy odds, made our country one of the world's most famous hotspots for biodiversity. So I asked my daughter to help me select a picture to celebrate social forestry day. She chose this photograph, of the mountains opposite the Gasa Dzong. My photo does not do the forests justice but, believe me, the mountains are heavily forested.

Gasa tshachu

May 31, 2009Nature, Villages

We're in Punakha, back from Gasa. And other than the heart wrenching sight of the damaged tshachu, our hot springs, the quick trip to Gasa was most wonderful. Gasa's famous tshachu, a truly national heritage that, over many centuries, has provided hope to countless ailing patients and rest for weary travelers, is no more. On 26th May, the Mochu changed its course, towards the hot springs, and washed away all the ponds, three shops and a lot of the embankment. Local people and Dzongkhag officials have already tried to locate the springs. But so far, they have not been…

To Gasa

May 29, 2009Nature

Dasho Damcho, MP from Gasa and my only colleague in opposition, and I go to Gasa today. We'll travel up the Mochu to assess the damage along the river, especially at the hot springs. What we've heard is that the historic springs have been completely washed away.

Tomorrow, to Haa

May 27, 2009Nature

Today was surprisingly sunny. We were told to expect more rain. But the weather, at least in Thimphu, couldn't have been better. It was perfect. I've heard that the Dratshang has conducted kurim, prayers, though out our country. Perhaps it was their intervention that turned the weather suddenly around and prevented further damage. But our country has already suffered serious damage from the yesterday's storm and flash floods. BBS has reported nine deaths so far. These include two students in Thimphu, one of whom was only seven; six farmers who were harvesting cordyceps in Bumthang; and one DANTAK road…

Yesterday, at Parizampa

May 27, 2009Nature

I've been thinking about posting videos on this site for quite sometime now. And I've already had a few practice runs. Today, we start with the real deal: our first video shows the Wangchu flash flood at Parizampa. That's where I spent most of the day yesterday, trying to remove the big log that was lodged in the old Bailey bridge there.

Flash floods!

May 26, 2009Nature

This photo, of today's flash flood in Thimphu, was sent to me by Nedup. It shows a swollen Wangchu tumbling down from the Lungtenzampa Bridge. Nedup: thank you. Continuous rain caused flash floods along the Thimphu valley throughout the day. Punakha, Paro, Haa and Bumthang are among the other valleys also hit by flash floods. After quickly checking on the dzong area, Sunday Market and Changjiji, I spent the rest of the day monitoring the situation in Parizampa, located slightly upstream from Dechencholing. A log from the old bridge there had fallen into the river, but wouldn't be swept…

Watching our mountains

April 26, 2009Nature

On the 12th of April, I had promised to post a good picture of the Jigme Singye Wangchuck Range. I’m afraid I haven’t been able to get one. I’m sorry.Dun dun was correct in commenting that I “was indeed in a hurry” and that my picture is “all hazy, washed out and dry!”I will be honest: the real reason I wrote the entry, even though I didn’t have a good picture of the mountains, was to remind myself that our northern range is now called the “Jigme Singye Wangchuck Range”.The picture of the mountain range I’m posting is a…

JSW mountain range

April 12, 2009Nature

This morning, at about 8:00 AM, while traveling to Punakha, Dochula honored me with the visual treat that is the Jigme Singye Wangchuck Mountain Range. Our northern range looked simply grand. My photo, which I had snapped very quickly, shows only part of the range, and does absolutely no justice to the real majesty of the Jigme Singye Wangchuck Mountain Range. But I’ve already asked a friend to loan me a real picture of our mountains. I’ll post that soon.

Doing the work

March 27, 2009Nature2 Comments

Regular readers of this blog know that every once in a while I present an issue without making a judgment or giving my views. I just present the facts as I see them.Why do I do this?Firstly, to make us think. Merely raising an issue forces me think much more deeply about it. And I am hopeful that it makes you, the reader, also spend some time reflecting on the issue.Secondly, to solicit your views. Your views are important to me and, I would like to think, to other readers as well. And, by the way, yes, I welcome…

Construction waste

March 25, 2009Nature

This afternoon, while travelling to Punakha, I saw garbage dumped below the highway at several places about 10 kilometers from Thimphu. The waste, which was obviously from a construction site, had been transported by truck and dumped in the forest near Memelakha.

Preparing for storms

March 19, 2009Nature, Villages

A week ago, strong winds damaged 20 houses in Haa, most of them in Katsho. The storm had blown off most of their roofs.I’m in Haa. And I was delighted to see that most of the houses have already been repaired.Wind storms are not uncommon in Haa. Just last year several houses had been severely damaged, mostly in Samar.In fact, wind storms are not uncommon in most parts of our country. My colleague, Dasho Damcho, is currently in Laya meeting farmers still recovering from the effects of last week’s storm. And, barely a year ago, strong winds swept through…

Water solution

March 15, 2009Nature, Villages

In “Weather dependent” I’d celebrated the snowfall, without which our farmers wouldn’t be able to plant potatoes. But I’d also agonized that too much snow could be bad for potato cultivation.These mixed emotions prompted one Anonymous to comment: “You complain when there is no snow and complain again when there is snow. Nothing new – that is the way Bhutanese are and you are a true champion.”Precisely.And I’ll keep complaining: it snowed here, but I learnt that other parts of Bhutan, Gakiling and Sombaykha gewogs for example, got hardly any precipitation. There I saw many farmers look helplessly on…

Weather dependent

March 1, 2009Nature, Villages

Yes! It snowed in Haa. And the land is now moist. So our farmers are working their fields in earnest, preparing them to plant potatoes. Before the recent snow and rain, our farmers could not plough their fields – the earth was too hard, and much of the dry top soil would have been lost in the wind anyway. If the dry weather had continued, our farmers would have virtually lost the potato season.So our farmers are happy. But their concerns are not over. It’s threatening to snow again. And if it does snow, and snows heavily, potato planting…

Zeko’s dream

February 27, 2009Government, Nature

Several people have told me that the quality of discussion among you, the readers of this blog, is unusually high. Your comments are educative, insightful and provide food for thought. But I am concerned that most casual readers will not see your comments, especially if they read only the main entries. And I think that some of your views are too significant, and too valuable, to leave simply as one comment.So I’ve decided to periodically post some of your comments as main entries — please let me know if this is okay. Reproducing your comments on the main page…