Health and Environment

COVID-19 is a reminder that human health and environmental health is closely linked. The pandemic has been a painful wake-up call to our fractured relationship with nature. The virus was most likely transmitted from wild animals to humans, also known as a zoonotic disease. Alarmingly, this phenomenon is on the rise. According to World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Nature in All Goals 2020 Report, it stated that the new diseases that have emerged in human beings in the past 30 years, 60-70 percent have a zoonotic origin. Zoonotic diseases are driven by the same activities that are causing nature loss: illegal wildlife trade, the trade and consumption of high-risk live wild animals, deforestation, habitat loss, and large-scale land conversion for food and livestock production.

According to United Nation Environment Program (UNEP), zoonoses that emerged or re-emerged recently are Ebola, bird flu, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), the Nipah virus, Rift Valley fever, sudden acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), West Nile virus, Zika virus disease, and, now, the coronavirus. They are all linked to human activity. The Ebola outbreak in West Africa was the result of forest losses leading to closer contacts between wildlife and human settlements; the emergence of avian influenza was linked to intensive poultry farming; and the Nipah virus was linked to the intensification of pig farming and fruit production in Malaysia.  

There are about 8 million species of life on the Earth, of which humans are just one. These include an estimated 1.7 million unidentified viruses, recognized as the type that may infect people, existing in mammals and water birds.  Any one of these could be transferred to humans, if we don’t take preventative measures now.

Environmental degradation increases the risk of future pandemics and weakens our resilience against climate change and other disasters. The pandemic has also highlighted the crushing weight of inequality in our societies. The global economic system, underpinned by extractive business and financial models and weak labour rights, has left millions of formal and informal workers unable to meet their basic needs. Unequal access to essential services such as healthcare, nutritious food, clean water, sanitation, hygiene, and safe housing, has exacerbated the impact of the pandemic and left public authorities unable to effectively respond. The pandemic is a reminder that everything is connected. Our health, our economies, and the natural environment are all interlinked. Tackling problems in siloes is no longer an option. We must create solutions that respond to these interconnections, and we need those solutions fast.

The most fundamental way to protect ourselves from zoonotic diseases is to prevent destruction of nature. Where ecosystems are healthy and biodiverse, they are resilient, adaptable and help to regulate diseases. Greater biodiversity and ecosystem integrity can help regulate diseases by supporting a diversity of species, so that it is more difficult for one pathogen to spread rapidly or dominate. Pathogens, that are passed around among reservoirs in animals is more likely to meet an example of effective resilience–where there is greater diversity.

Humanity's broken relationship with nature comes with a cost. That cost has revealed itself in terrible ways. Loss of lives, loss of jobs, and a shock to our global economy. This pandemic joins a long list of emerging diseases that will continue to undermine global stability unless we fix our relationship with nature. It is impossible to predict where the next outbreak will come from or when it will be. Growing evidence suggests that outbreaks or epidemic diseases may become more frequent as climate continues to change and nature degradation at current pace.  Together we can ensure the response to this global emergency makes our planet and our communities stronger.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are from author’s own research and views and does not relate to agency he works with.

To You

That beautiful smile,
With eyes so blue and angelic graces
I missed you for so long.

Maybe you didn't notice it
When I zoomed-in your distant
Well proportioned stand and stride.

Maybe you didn't know it
When we encountered every morning
And how I declared the well we fit each other.

Maybe you didn't feel it
When I caressed your forehead
In our every syrup glance.

A love so true
A love so deep
You're the one, I chose to keep.

never a question of attrition

Long that I humbled myself,

Always trying to live with modesty,

When it came to the law of attraction,

There was never a question of attrition.

So, it was when I met a decent one,

I thought it’s her or none.

Inducing me to give my best shot,

For once I became the man I’m not.

I realized, this is a love I am talking about,

The deep euphoric feeling stronger than any force.
This girl definitely could be my wife.
And she will move along my entire life.

I chose her never because she was the best.
I fell in love with her without any conditions,

Convincing myself I'm more with flaws,

Knowing beautiful things happen to move together along the flows.

We Need to Accept Responsibility

Our Buddhist teaching upholds the principle that our first responsibility should be towards the community, only then comes to our family and yourself. A community starts degrading when this order is reversed. Social responsibility ought to be the moral obligation of every citizen. A sign of a good citizen is that he is willing to pull his own weight and see the overall welfare in the society through minimal ecological footprint and social burden.

The price of greatness is responsibility.

--Winston Churchill

The individual responsibility can be judged from the way individual consume, produce and behave in the society, it is associated with your daily habits. A rich man can efforts all luxurious things, but if he acquired more than the required, he inherently lack social responsibility. He is compromising the welfare of many other underprivileged people through unnecessary stockpiling of things that originally originate from nature and the environment. The problem today is this, a consumerist society! Today we are extracting more than the required from nature to produce and then consume without knowledge of exhaustion. We are also not aware of where does all the waste generated during the production and the used products go.

Our societies are not destroyed by the activities of bad people but by the inactivity of good, rich and literate people. What a paradox! If those literate and wealthy people can tolerate destruction by being inactive, how can they be good? The question is, are they discharging their social responsibility? Are they not too ambitious in conquering only personal gains and profits without knowing that there is worst aftermath of our activities?

We cannot live as if we have another earth we can move to. There is definitely no Planet B. On a daily basis, we need to do something that makes this world a better place to live. We are custodians for future generations. If we do not behave responsibly, how can future generations forgive us?

If the average life expectancy of a Bhutanese people is 70 years and if you are 35 years old, you have 365 days x 35 years, to live. Ask yourself this question: What are you going to do with this time? When we accept or add responsibility, we make ourselves more valuable. Don't we? Yes, can’t we seriously think of making our society a better place to live?

When we openly urinate and defecate ourselves, don’t try to complain about the smell of the sewerage outflowing on the roads though cracked drains and tanks. Don’t try to shout at the place that it looks untidy when we litter our own garbage openly in the undesignated area. It totally looks insane to see commuters covering their nose when they walked near landfill site or dumpsite because the reason for the odour smell is that they mixed both the degradable and non-degradable waste from their very little unsophisticated home and reached there. Thus, every unpleasant thing we perceived in the society initially boils down to our individual lack of responsibility and self-discipline.

We need to accept responsibility for our behaviour and our actions and insulate ourselves from excuses. Don't be like the student who failed just because he didn't like the teacher or the subject. Who is he hurting the most? We have to accept responsibility and stop blaming others, then, and only then, will productivity and quality of life improve. A community will proper. Remember, we all owe a responsibility to the environment, society, work, family and to self. Let’s all accept the responsibilities.

Accepting responsibilities involves taking calculated, not foolish. It means evaluating all the pros and cons, then taking the most appropriate decision or action. It means gauging the everyday simple things you do. It also means to think that this is a shared world and that we all truly owe to it. Responsible people don't think that the world owes them a living instead they think we have the responsibility to care and make it a happier place to co-exist harmoniously.

Farewell Speech

Good evening,

Honorable President, Deans, Lecturers and my lovely friends, all of us, the class of 2018. Even though speaking goodbye are never easy, I feel honored and privileged to share my thoughts on this very special night as a graduating student.

Farewell @College Convention

As I stood up from my seat and walked through the passage on the stage, I got the entire journey of mine in the College flashed back in just those few minutes. Tears, smile, goose bumps, and all the feelings were mixed and came together in those minutes. From my first reporting day on Tuesday, 21 July, 2015 as an innocent high school graduate, starting from the three days orientation program, to the human value workshop, to the vacations working along with my friends here in college, late nights birthday preparation and assignment writings, block days and block week trip, inspiring words coupled with class lectures from my lecturers, everything, every special moment that has touched me and got locked within to stay in forever quickly rushed  to fondly reminisce and speak here.

It will be too lengthy for me to talk everything of my experience as a student of College of Natural Resources (CNR). I would summaries my entire 1095 days stay in the college in just three striking experience tonight.

1.      My undergraduate journey with Lecturer.

Firstly, I can proudly say to anyone as I go out from here that CNR has very supportive, highly committed and a knowledgeable teams of teaching faculty. It was the greatest blessing in my life to have closely known all the great teachers here. With you all, I've learned how to take direction, criticism, and compliments. These are three things I wasn't so great at taking before, and now I feel I can apply that in many different situations. I’ve also learned to be open-minded, to value other people's opinions and to consider other ideas along with mine, to end up with a great final result. I would continue to seek your blessings and guidance hereafter.

2.      My learning environment

Secondly, the college environment is my best part of being a student of CNR.   Located in the serene hill, overlooking meandering Punatsangchu River, CNR’s campus immediately has given me a sense of peace and harmony. The college is perfectly distanced from the capital with just 2 hours’ drive and also located in region with all basic modern amenities, sacred religious and political sites. I will always say to everyone I will meet hereafter that this place is truly awesome to live, learn and explore.

3.      My encounter with my classmates

Third, and the most wonderful experience is my encounter with all the class of 2018, particularly this crazy talented bunch, my classmates, 1^st batch, Bachelor of Science in Environment and Climate Studies students.  I am literally short of words to describe how Talented, Supportive, Hardworking and Brave each one of you are. I just wanted to thank you all, my classmates, for being there; you all have always put in your best to execute what I dreamt of and also cooperated with me as your Class Representative. I am overwhelmed to witness this great journey of studying in this exceptional learning institution that enabled me to know my strengths and also gave me the opportunities to boost them with you all. With you all, the college has helped me to grow not only horizontal and vertical physical growth but also as a good human being as well as the well-informed individual.

I am leaving here today with a wealth of knowledge I will always treasure. Studying here has been a fantastic learning experience and I am thankful for the skills I've acquired. I feel as if being here with you all, respected lecturers and dear friends, each day has made me a more complete and well-rounded person.

It's been a pleasure learning and growing together with you all and I will truly miss it. I take with me fond memories, valuable skills, and I hope that one day I could leave an impression on others similar to the one you all have left on me. My wish for everyone here is that you all will continue to experience success, to feel fulfilled in all you do, and to have nothing but pleasant results with each completed goals! While that may be an overly optimistic wish, it is truly genuine and sincer. I want to thank college management for honoring us with this delightful event, a farewell night.

Kadrinchey and Tashi Delek

Awakening Thought

I rambled alone in a recreational park,

I rambled alone in a dairy farm,

I rambled alone in a midst of young couples

And gazed moments twirled with time.


Children in a recreational park

Were so squeal with the highest delight there.

Their sitters nearby one eye shut

And one lazily centered to delighted offspring.


Cows mooed into a long piteous tone,

Merely yearned for lush, green, pasturage.

Cow-keeper despairingly held light vessel

With hopes for early arrival of approving season.


Couple in love stretched out together

Gazed longingly into each-other eyes.

Flirting couple accused each other catching bare arms

And shirttail as they strode with fast pace.


I moved then at snail's pace

Back to dorm with greater realization

That I am not fallen off edge of earth

And still alive to see the world around.

I call him 'Brother'

This is a lad that I got to tell
I call him my brother
He listens to my pointless thought
With all his passionate still
And helps to untangle my obstructions.

He is more of calling simply brother
For him being so sweet and sound
Softly pardoning me everytime
Help connecting dots when I get lost
Smoothly stirring my soul with indulgence.

I hope, together we move on
Letting our smile exchange for no reason
For us being preciously owned,
Like sibling, like friend
Calling brother, ever and always