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December 11, 2005
P-T has published my letter to the editor
The Post-Tribune published my letter today:
Follow Bhutanese in protecting cranesHigh in the Himalaya Mountains, the Kingdom of Bhutan’s Phobjikha Valley is home to a quiet village, where monks in maroon robes meditate in a 17th-century Buddhist monastery.
Orange, green and red prayer flags flutter in the frozen winter winds.
Besides monks, the valley is home mostly to impoverished potato farmers. There are no electricity or telephone lines.
Bits of power are generated by solar panels and a mini-hydro project, which were donated by foreign-aid organizations.
Why haven’t power lines been strung up and down the mountains? The 500 families of Phobjikha have foregone power because lines would mar the landscape and threaten the black-necked cranes that roost here.
About 250 of the world’s 6,000 black-necked cranes bring good fortune upon their arrival from Tibet every year, around Oct. 13. Residents of other Bhutanese valleys, with the king’s support, have voluntarily limited development that might disturb the cranes.
Back in Indiana, a recent Post-Tribune photo showed a bulldozer building a giant industrial pig farm near several roosting cranes near Wheatfield.
People in the Phobjikha Valley are among the world’s poorest, yet they forgo electricity and phones because they would rather protect cranes.
We are among the world’s richest. Can’t we do better than to allow an industrial pig farm to be built immediately beside the roosting area of a sensitive species like our cranes?
Adrian Jones, Valparaiso
Posted by adrianjo at December 11, 2005 11:33 AM