Mr. Eric Lemelson, the Founder of Karuna Foundation and its board members visited the Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and Environment (UWICE). The Executive Director of Bhutan Foundation Mr. Tshewang Wangchuk also accompanied the team. The team was welcomed by the Officiating Director and the faculty members of the institute.

Mr. Tshering Tempa, UWICE, briefed the team on the objectives, achievements and future plans of the Institute, followed by detail presentation about the HEROES project and its current status by Mr. Changa Tshering, the Project Coordinator.

The main objective of their visit was to study the current status of the HEROES (Himalayan Environmental Rhythms Observatory Evaluation System) project funded by Karuna Foundation through Bhutan Foundation. The other objectives are to learn more about Bhutan and the need and priorities of the community to explore the potential funding avenue. Mr. Eric said, “we in the developed world are responsible for the majority of global climate change that is affecting Bhutan and other parts of the developing world, so we feel a responsibility to contribute in some way to offset the impact of climate change through projects like HEROES”. The meeting ended with the discussion among visitors and faculty members.

Next day, 17^th November 2013, the UWICE took the team for trekking from Tharpaling towards Chamkhar crossing the Tharpaling ridge.