Royal Thimphu College

A study was carried out to ascertain the socioeconomic determinants of fertility in Thimphu City. In particular, the purpose of the paper is to assess the impact of the availability of Baby Sitter on fertility measured as number of children in the family. The explanatory variables used in the study are: Age of the Respondent, Age at Marriage, Duration of Breastfeed in months, the factor of availability of Baby Sitter, Education Level, number of Work Hours, Duration of Separation from the Spouse, Income Level and the use of Contraception. The research method used is quantitative with a structured questionnaire administered to a sample size of 150 married men and women who are both working in Thimphu City and within the age range of 15 to 49 years. The respondents are also living in Thimphu City itself and the sample comprised of 68% female and 32% male. A multiple linear regression is used to develop the econometric model of socioeconomic determinants of fertility based on Bongaarts' Proximate Determinants of Fertility Model. 72% of the respondents agreed to the statement that they cannot go for more than two children because they cannot find baby sitter while only 14% disagreed to the same statement. The Age of the Respondent, Age at Marriage and the factor of availability of Baby Sitter are only the explanatory variables found to have statistical significance in determining the fertility in Thimphu City.

A study was conducted to determine whether Bhutanese civil service size is at optimum level in relation to nine other selected countries in South Asia. The data is obtained through secondary sources such as from online journals, organizational websites and other government publications. The two indicators used to assess the optimum size are; (i) percentage of civil service of the total population and; (ii) ratio of civil service size to the total population. These indicators are compared against the mean of percentage and mean of the ratio respectively.  These countries were selected based on purposive sampling technique and availability of the data.  The analysis of both the indicators shows that Bhutan is overstaffed as compared to the rest of the selected countries in South Asia.

Nature can be interpreted and valued from multidimensional perspectives. The Three Brothers Mountains in Haa district in Bhutan is one example in which nature is looked upon from multivalent perspectives, including economic and spiritual perspectives. Situating my ethnographic research in Haa, as part of a larger ethnographic project, uncovered the existence of conflicting perceptions of the Three Brothers Mountains. This chapter firstly explores the presence of eco-spiritual perceptions of the mountains in which people see the environment in terms of its spiritual essence and capabilities. This perception also conjures the concept of deities’ presence in the environment, which has, as a corollary, influenced environmental-friendly strategies for conservation. Eco-spiritual perceptions have prevailed for generations, however, with rapid development, the perceptions of the younger generations are changing, and they have started looking at the mountains as a potential source of income; this is broadly conceived of as the economic perspective. I compare these two different perceptions with the view from Government of Bhutan and in the process engage with Eduardo Viveiros de Castro’s Amazonian case and Arturo Escobar’s work on earth thinking and ontological occupation to describe the tensions between them. I discuss the relational ontology present in eco-theological perceptions and the presence of inter-generations differences in economic perceptions. I further discuss the shift of perceptions as an inter-generational, ontological and occupational difference in relation with the environment.

The study aims to investigate the impacts of climate change on butterfly populations Thimphu district of Bhutan. Butterflies are indicators of environmental factors and can act as an early warning of impending changes in local flora and fauna. The study will involve citizen science with participants using iNaturalist and Seek applications to capture butterfly data in various habitat areas in the Thimphu district. The data collected will be analyzed using Statistics Kit for Social Sciences (SPSS), Nvivo, and Geographical Information System (GIS) programs. The results of the research will be disseminated through awareness campaigns to increase public understanding of the value of butterfly protection in the conservation of healthy environments. The study's findings will be used to develop conservation initiatives to maintain biodiversity and assess the impacts of climate change.

Phobjikha and Laya stand as popular tourist destinations in Bhutan, with much potential for future Sustainable Development initiatives that seek to dovetail conservation and livelihood concerns. While ecotourism has been employed in each location, they have done so through different strategies, resulting in differing social outcomes. Through the lens of Neoliberal Conservation, social cohesion, a key GNH indicator, was assessed in each location to understand the broader impact of ecotourism on local communities. Results show communities of Phobjikha experiencing a loss of community cohesion due to increased competition and privatization introduced by the ecotourism sector. As such, ecotourism in this context serves as a quintessential neoliberal project. In contrast, Laya residents express increased social cohesion and lack resentment towards neighbors who serve as competitors for limited tourist earnings. These differences are attributed to existing economic stability, threshold capacities for tourist numbers, and the influence of external actors. As such, these conditions serve as a cautionary note to policy makers, and both communities, as they look to expand ecotourism opportunities in their respective regions.

The Bhutanese landscape is highly contested by not only local livelihood practices and state policies, but also the activity of cosmological deities that lay claim to space. Territory and territoriality are explored in this context, the former of which represents physical space that is demarcated with the latter representing a social process of negotiation for space. These ideas, along with Claude Raffestin's theoretical work related to a relational approach to territoriality and labour are imported to the Bhutanese context. Respondents from Haa, Phobjikha and Laya illustrate a dynamic landscape in which human tenants are conditioned by deity landlords to act according to particular restrictions/prescriptions. The power of these deities is conceptualized as labour, and represents active shaping of both physical and social space. This work extends analyses within critical geography by illustrating the role of spiritual actors on the landscape that impose their wills and claim territory, which traditionally is understood as an activity of the state.

The assessment of vegetation dynamics using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is crucial for the development of effective strategies for biodiversity conservation and management. Using Landsat images, this article investigates the vegetation dynamics in the Bhutan highlands of Lingzhi between 2010 and 2021. The NDVI measurements were classified into five categories, and NDVI differencing was used to determine vegetation changes over time. The main objective of the study was to assess vegetation fluctuation, which assists in the investigation of anthropogenic pressure, deforestation, urban development, natural disasters, and regular landscape changes over time. The article discovered a decline in the moderate vegetation class, which was ascribed to grassland nationalization, the legality and regularization of cordyceps collection, and a decrease in illicit cordyceps harvesting. The results highlight the need to adopt image recognition methods and the NDVI index to understand forest changes. These findings can help planners and decision-makers steer sustainable land development in similar places.