In July, 2006 the authors had the pleasure of working in Bhutan with the emerging Ugyen Wangchuck Environment and Forestry Institute (UWEFI). Along with others (i.e., several American academics, a Danish forester, and Bhutanese representatives from the Natural Resource Training Institute, government agencies and the private sector), they examined conservation education goals and institutional, faculty and curriculum development at UWEFI. The assessment included stakeholder workshops to identify priorities from the public and private sectors. They were inspired and optimistic about UWEFI possibilities because of Bhutan’s commitment to “The Middle Path” in natural resource management, an approach built on Buddhist culture, traditions of sustainable forest and land management, and inclusion of people and human use in nature.
