Buddhism, Economics, and Environmental Values: A Multilevel Analysis of Sustainable Development Efforts in Bhutan

Approaches linking conservation with development often ignore the impacts of economic change on traditional cultures. While some researchers suggest that development enhances environmental values, others maintain that it threatens traditional beliefs and norms that foster respect for the environment. In this article, I explore how economic factors, religious factors, and community norms are associated with environmental values in 13 villages in three communities in Bhutan. Using multilevel logistic regression, I analyze four environmental values questions and find that economic rather than religious factors are better indicators of environmental values, supporting the “conservation and development” approach. Further, traditional community norms show little relationship with environmental values. However, a national-level environmental norm resulting from government efforts and based, in part, on Buddhist principles, may be emerging. Though economic factors are clearly crucial, Bhutan's development approach suggests a top-down commitment to the environment couched in religious terms may also support environmental values.