209
continuing vision as proclaimed by the 4th King, His Majesty Jigme Singye
Wangchuck, back in the 1970s when he was still a teenager. This, in turn, was in
accord with the Bhutanese Zhabdrung Rinpoche’s legal code of 1729, a firm precursor to the GNH policies of today, in which was articulated the “responsibility of any
government to create happiness for the people”
10
.
Among the indigenous 2000+ Brokpa of Sakteng and Merak, the two principal
villages of the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary, GNH and feelings for, and a sense of
profound duty toward, protection of nature are irrepressible reciprocities. When we
first surveyed Sakteng (the second such thorough survey since the Wildlife Institute
of India had sent two scientists there in 2004, one year after the Sanctuary’s creation), the taxonomic numbers included 18 mammal species, 119 avians, and 203
plant species, all within 21 known forest communities
11
. By 2018 research had
vastly increased this remarkable biotic repository: 622 vascular plant species, 30
mammals, and 227 birds
12
.
While Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary had, in great measure, been created to protect
the Yeti (meegoe)—everyone we interviewed had seen it him/herself, or knew of a
friend or family member who had also encountered it directly—there was, as yet, no
direct scientific evidence of this apparently tall, bipedal vertebrate, comparable in
size and strength to a Great Ape. However, the mass of local anecdotal assurances
that it indeed existed, among so many other cryptic species, deities, and uncanny
spiritual beings who saw to it that the entire region was sacred, promulgated its own
inimitable peculiarities and sense of possibility. Why else, in this remote mountainous region, would there exist so unambiguous a convergence of opinion on
the matter?
We re-emerged from the hallowed rhododendron epicenter of the eastern
Himalayas (35 species in Sakteng, several endemic, out of a total of 46 across all of
Bhutan) completely enchanted by the yaks, the yakherding Brokpa, and their universe. There were no tourists allowed in Sakteng at that time. No road. No hotel.
One government bungalow for visiting guests.
In subsequent years, the Brokpa population has remained stable (a very low fertility rate) but the buffer zones surrounding Sakteng have burgeoned with a current
human population exceeding 11,000. Moreover, a road has been built and will soon
be fully covered in tarmac. “People reasoned that eco-tourism benefits only a few
individuals…” [whereas] “A road benefits the entire community”
12
. By February
2019, the road had been completed and the outcries of happiness were manifest:
“Sakteng Gup Sangay Dorji said that the road would expedite developmental projects in the gewog. ‘We are extremely happy. For us it is dream come true. Many
cried tears of joy seeing the first vehicle arrive in our village’”
13
(Fig. 22.3).
10 Citing K.Ura, et.al., “An extensive analysis of GNH index,” The Centre for Bhutan Studies, 2012,
in Bionomics, ibid., p. 10.
11 op.cit., Sanctuary, p. 290.
12 ibid, Bionomics, p.39.
13 See “Road to reach Sakteng’s gewog centre,” January 28, 2017, by Tempa Wangdi, Kuensel,
http://www.kuenselonline.com/road-to-reach-saktengs-gewog-centre/. Accessed April 17, 2019.
22.1 The Pressure from Within
continuing vision as proclaimed by the 4th King, His Majesty Jigme Singye
Wangchuck, back in the 1970s when he was still a teenager. This, in turn, was in
accord with the Bhutanese Zhabdrung Rinpoche’s legal code of 1729, a firm precursor to the GNH policies of today, in which was articulated the “responsibility of any
government to create happiness for the people”
10
.
Among the indigenous 2000+ Brokpa of Sakteng and Merak, the two principal
villages of the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary, GNH and feelings for, and a sense of
profound duty toward, protection of nature are irrepressible reciprocities. When we
first surveyed Sakteng (the second such thorough survey since the Wildlife Institute
of India had sent two scientists there in 2004, one year after the Sanctuary’s creation), the taxonomic numbers included 18 mammal species, 119 avians, and 203
plant species, all within 21 known forest communities
11
. By 2018 research had
vastly increased this remarkable biotic repository: 622 vascular plant species, 30
mammals, and 227 birds
12
.
While Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary had, in great measure, been created to protect
the Yeti (meegoe)—everyone we interviewed had seen it him/herself, or knew of a
friend or family member who had also encountered it directly—there was, as yet, no
direct scientific evidence of this apparently tall, bipedal vertebrate, comparable in
size and strength to a Great Ape. However, the mass of local anecdotal assurances
that it indeed existed, among so many other cryptic species, deities, and uncanny
spiritual beings who saw to it that the entire region was sacred, promulgated its own
inimitable peculiarities and sense of possibility. Why else, in this remote mountainous region, would there exist so unambiguous a convergence of opinion on
the matter?
We re-emerged from the hallowed rhododendron epicenter of the eastern
Himalayas (35 species in Sakteng, several endemic, out of a total of 46 across all of
Bhutan) completely enchanted by the yaks, the yakherding Brokpa, and their universe. There were no tourists allowed in Sakteng at that time. No road. No hotel.
One government bungalow for visiting guests.
In subsequent years, the Brokpa population has remained stable (a very low fertility rate) but the buffer zones surrounding Sakteng have burgeoned with a current
human population exceeding 11,000. Moreover, a road has been built and will soon
be fully covered in tarmac. “People reasoned that eco-tourism benefits only a few
individuals…” [whereas] “A road benefits the entire community”
12
. By February
2019, the road had been completed and the outcries of happiness were manifest:
“Sakteng Gup Sangay Dorji said that the road would expedite developmental projects in the gewog. ‘We are extremely happy. For us it is dream come true. Many
cried tears of joy seeing the first vehicle arrive in our village’”
13
(Fig. 22.3).
10 Citing K.Ura, et.al., “An extensive analysis of GNH index,” The Centre for Bhutan Studies, 2012,
in Bionomics, ibid., p. 10.
11 op.cit., Sanctuary, p. 290.
12 ibid, Bionomics, p.39.
13 See “Road to reach Sakteng’s gewog centre,” January 28, 2017, by Tempa Wangdi, Kuensel,
http://www.kuenselonline.com/road-to-reach-saktengs-gewog-centre/. Accessed April 17, 2019.
22.1 The Pressure from Within