Impoverished Bhutan preserves vast woodlands with severity and zeal

  • 25/01/1999

As forests around the world vanish, Bhutan is mountina desperate effort to hold onto its trees. Woodlands cover nearly three-quarters of Bhutan, a Switzerland-sized country nestled in the mountains between China and India. Surrounded by countries whose forests have been stripped, trampled and forgotten, Bhutan has embarked on one of the world's toughest environmental campaigns, aimed at preserving the country's spectacular natural bounty even at the cost of economic growth.