Biological and Linguistic Diversity in Bhutan: The Search for Connections

Abstract

The inspiration for this article came from the release of the World-Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) report, 'Indigenous and Traditional Peoples of the World and Ecoregion Conservation: An Integrated Approach to Conserving the World's Biological and Cultural Diversity' (Maffi, Oviedo, et a1. 2000). This report highlights the fact that the world's most biologically rich and diverse areas are also the regions of greatest cultural, and in particular, linguistic diversity. Other research has suggested that there is a '64% overlap between the 25 countries with the greatest number of endemic vertebrate species and the 25 countries with the greatest number of endemic languages' (Suckling 2000: 4).