Mr. Sonam Phuntsho

JSW-OESA WINNER 2010

Mr. Sonam Phuntsho started planting trees as a primary school student in the early 1970s. Since then, he has planted more than 10,000 saplings of bluepine, maple and oak throughout Bhutan. He organised one of the first cleaning campaigns in Thimphu in 1996. He subsequently organized large groups of volunteers for waste collection and cleaning campaigns in other areas as well, including along Sangaygang ridge and in the Gasa Tshachu area. Mr. Sonam Phuntsho has been involved in fighting forest fires since 2000. A recent issue of the Journalist nicknamed him the “Green Man”, although he is called “Ata” by his colleagues at the Information and Communication Services (ICS) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, where he presently works.

Past Awards

The Jigme Singye Wangchuck Outstanding Environmental Stewardship Award (JSW-OESA) is conferred once every two years. It honours individuals, groups and institutions from all backgrounds for a lifetime of contribution towards ensuring the security and sustainability of Bhutan's pristine environment. It particularly merits people who have gone beyond the normal call-of-duty in their service towards environmental protection.

2022

Karma Wangdi

Karma Wangdi is a forester working under the Department of Forests and Park Services, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, at the Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and Environment....
2018

Late Sangay Wangchuk (PhD)

Late Sangay Wangchuk (PhD), who served more than 40 years with the Department of Forests and Park Services (DoFS), has been conferred the Jigme Singye Wangchuck Outstanding Environmental Stewardship...
2015

Mr. Tshering Penjore

Mr. Tshering Penjore, Principal Research Officer at Renewable Natural Research Center at Mongar has helped fabricate and construct low cost and effective electric fencing thereby helping contain and prevent...

Dr. D. B. Gurung

Dr. D.B. Gurung, Dean of the College of Natural Resources under the Royal University of Bhutan is an avid naturalist and author of the Orchids of Bhutan. His pioneering...

Mr. Sherub

Mr. Sherub, popularly known as Bird Sherub is synonymous with birds. He is working as the Chief of Research and Education at the Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and...
2014

The Forest Protection and Surveillance Team

The 3rd Jigme Singye Wangchuck Outstanding Environmental Stewardship Award (JSW-OESA) was conferred by HRH Ashi Chimi Yangzom Wangchuck, coinciding with the opening ceremony of the 14th International Society of...
2012

Mr. Raling Ngawang Drukdra

Mr. Raling Ngawang Drukdra from the Department of Forests and Park Services is considered one of Bhutan’s foremost ethnobotanists, a specialist on the cultural values and uses of plants. He pioneered the...

Ms. Rebecca Pradhan

Ms. Rebecca Pradhan, works with the Royal Society for Protection of Nature. She has been instrumental in the conservation of Bhutan’s critically endangered white bellied heron, a cause to which she...
2010

Dasho Paljor J. Dorji

Dasho Paljor J. Dorji is the founder of the Royal Society for Protection of Nature (RSPN), the first homegrown environmental NGO in Bhutan. The RSPN, which was founded in 1987, now supplements...

Mr. Sonam Phuntsho

Mr. Sonam Phuntsho started planting trees as a primary school student in the early 1970s. Since then, he has planted more than 10,000 saplings of bluepine, maple and oak throughout...