While Bhutan’s constitution mandates a minimum of 60% forest cover, statistics show the current cover to be close to 84%. Forestry scientist Dr. Phuntsho Namgyel offers a radical new perspective on the issue, stating that this is hurting rather than helping our forest conservation goals. Among his ideas is undertaking a major forest thinning operation and using the extracted timber to drive the economy.

The Bhutan Lectures on Innovation, Science, and Society (BLISS) is a public benefit event organized by the Bhutan Ecological Society with support from the Bhutan Foundation and the School for Field Studies.