environment

86 centimetres

Bhutan+partners produced ’86 centimetres’, a documentary about the threat of a glacial lake outburst flooding (GLOF) in the Himalyan mountains of the Kingdom of Bhutan.

The documentary is a co-production between bhutan+partners, TGMI Bhutan, and Peterjan van der Burgh, the Netherlands.
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’86 centimetres’ tells the story of Tashi, a young farmer from Paro valley, who went up into the mountains to help lower the water level of the glacial Thorthormi lake. The melting ice fills up the lake and puts more and more pressure on the  moraine dam surrounding the lake. If the pressure becomes too big the dam can no longer protect the valleys of Bhutan from an outburst. A tragedy is about to happen.

86 centimetres will have it’s US premiere on 18 March at the 2012 environmental film festival in Washington DC and will be screened at the national museum of natural history in the capital.

info 86 centimetres – Jan 2012.doc’ copy
86 centimetres website
Climate Summit Himalaya region 2011
UN Chronicle | Global Warming and Surging Glaciers
Linking Adaptation to Development
When the ice melts
The threat from Lake Thorthormi

umoja climate fund

The Dutch rock group Bløf set up the Umoja Climate fund as a modest contribution to a better world. The fund supports small scale environmental friendly projects in Nepal and in Bhutan. After having seen a rough version of the documentary ’86 centimeters’ Bløf were impressed with the hard working conditions at the excavation works at lake Thorthormi. They decided to support the 2011 group of workers going up to the lake to continue to reduce the water level at the lake.  370 Gore tex wind coats were donated.  The coats were made in Nepal and  handed over by Henk de Jong, director bhutan+partners and board member of the Umoja Climate Fund in July 2011 to Lyonpo Khandhu Wangchuk, Minister of Economic affairs.

Bhutan+partners supported the Umoja fund in finding a retailer in the region able to produce 370 coats and have them transported to Thimphu, Bhutan. Monitoring of time schedules and transport were coordinated by bhutan+partners.