A local community, consisting of four Gewogs, will gain complete control over the annual Rhododendron Festival in Lamperi.
The Department of Forests and Park Services handed over the festival to the Lamperi Rhododendron Tshogpa during the fifth annual Rhododendron festival.
The four Gewogs of Chang, Kawang, Dagala and Toeb will now organise the festival.
Earlier, the festival was conducted by the Department of Forests and Park Services in close collaboration with the local communities.
This was done, in order to have better involvement of community and long term-sustainability of the festival and give a sense of ownership.
“The reason to hand over the festival to the community is mainly to improve the living standard of four gewogs. The income generated through such initiative and services will ultimately benefit the community. And since we have lots of students participating in the event, they will play a vital role in the conservation and sustainability of the environment and the festival,” said the Chief Forestry Officer, Gyeltshen Drukpa.
The Royal Botanical Park under the Department of Forests and Park Services will however continue to provide the technical support.
Currently, out of 46 different species of rhododendron available in Bhutan, 39 are available in the park.
In the meantime, the Royal Botanical Park is also in process of building a thematic garden whereby all the 46 species of rhododendron will be made available in the park only.
The three-day Rhododendron festival will conclude tomorrow.
