Many of those who have not set foot on Mount Qomolangma in the
Himalayan Mountains tend to think it is a world of sterile
whiteness devoid of life. During my trip there last May, I
discovered quite the opposite - this area on the roof of the world
is full of life. And this rich life has been nurtured by many local
people working to protect the environment in the area.
Solar energy
Zholma is the director of the Wildlife Protection Office of the
Tibet Forestry Commission.
Although her home village is inaccessible by highways, she is proud
of the deep valleys that criss-cross the Himalayan Mountains.
"These valleys are like 'tunnels' through which the humid warm
current from the Indian Ocean sails on to the Qinghai-Tibet
Plateau," she said.
A
rich variety of wildlife, from rare plants to animals, build their
homes in the valleys at different elevations, making the area one
of the world's largest living museums of wildlife and
biodiversity.
As
an environmentalist, Zholma is well aware how the traditional way
of building fires by firewood affects the fragile green vegetation
in the Qomolangma area.
But for generations, her family and her neighbours chopped groves
in the Qomolangma for firewood. They piled the wood on the roofs of
their houses. The local people deemed this natural and felt they
were doing nothing wrong.
However, Zholma started to change their way of thinking. She bought
a solar energy stove in Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous
Region, and brought it home to upgrade the traditional way of
cooking.
But her family refused to use the stove. They told Zholma they
wouldn't want to burden the sun with too much work as it already
works from early morning till late in the evening.
"Whether the sun will feel tired if he is made to cook for us is
open to discussion," Zholma said. "However, it is a fact that
vegetation on the slopes at more than 4,000 metres above sea level
is being destroyed as the local population grows. This points to
the need to adopt a substitute fuel for cooking."
Young son
Purqoin is the deputy director of the Xigaze Qomolangma Protection
Bureau and director of the bureau's Tingri branch.
With a heavy work schedule to supervise the intensive nature
protection work, he spends the best part of the year in the
Qomolangma State Nature Reserve away from his home in Xigaze.
Whenever he leaves home for his work in Tingri, more than 300
kilometres away, his wife will mark a line on the home calendar to
document how many days Purgoin is expected to be away from
home.
As
a porter in a local granary, his wife's working hours are irregular
and has difficulty taking care of their two sons at the same
time.
Purgoin had to take their elder son with him when he went on
inspection tours of the Qomolangma area.
"My elder son practically lived in the car for two years when he
was three," he recalled. "The trips were an ordeal instead of an
enjoyment for him at that time."
His son is 10 years old now. Despite the fact his son could tell
what kinds of wild animals are under what levels of protection
under the government decrees, he replied with a firm "no" when
asked if he would take up his father's work when he grows up.
"I
feel sorry for him and my younger son today," Purqoin said.
However, he has no regrets when talking about his work geared to
protect the eco-environment in the Qomolangma area.
He
is always eager to talk about project "Pandba," which has mobilized
local individual farmers and herds people to take charge of the
"welfare" of the nature reserve.
In
the reserve, I was delighted to see quite a number of wild
animals.
Zholma and Purqoin must take most of the credit for building up
local awareness to protect the Qomolangma area.
Environmental issues
Chen Xianshun is the director of the Tibet Environmental Protection
Bureau.
A
graduate from the Institute of Architectural Engineering in
Chongqing, Chen won a national award in 1998 for his design to
expand the Potala Palace square in Lhasa. He was then vice-mayor of
Lhasa.
But today he has taken charge of the projects to protect the local
environment, and enjoys explaining the sights he cherishes.
Chen said the huge pebble stones I saw during my travels in the
area took their current form after numerous movements of the earth.
He talked about how the ancient Tethys Sea receded and high
mountains rose up to form the plateau and then fall again to turn
into the lakes.
"It's also possible they may have something to do with ancient
seas," he said.
He
also explained the deserts taking shape at the foot of the snow
mountains. He said a plateau is closer to the sun than any other
place on earth. The huge difference of temperatures between day and
night result in strong alpine winds.
"Exposed to these winds, the rocks weather at a quicker pace and
sands shift in large tracts for dozens of kilometres or even some
100 kilometres, and then settle in river valleys or mountain
gullies," Chen said.
Chen is shouldering an enormous task after his appointment as the
region's environment protection bureau director.
He
and his colleagues made an investigation of the region's ecosystem
two years ago.
They discovered global warming has affected the ecosystem in the
region.
"With the rise in atmospheric temperature, the snow line of
Qomolangma is moving up, the wetlands at its foot degenerating, and
some lakes drying up," he said.
With an elevation of 4,500 metres on average, Tibet - covering an
area of some 1.2 million square kilometres - has a fragile
ecosystem.
He
said he and his colleagues could do little to stop global warming
but they must work harder to seek a balance between rapid economic
development in the region and environmental protection.
"How to seek a harmonious existence between man and nature is a
pressing issue for us," he said.
(China
Daily June 5, 2002)