A Public Policy for a More Sustainable Society in Tibet

　　Dr. Jorge Navarro Lucio（Mexico）

　　Before developing the main topics of my presentation, allow me to point out some facts about China's Tibet Autonomous Region. This area is located on the main body of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with high altitude of almost 4 thousand meters above sea level where some rich wildlife, water and other natural resources could have been devastated if it were not implemented on time some sustainable policies. Such policies were designed to stop the deterioration of the Tibetan environment and protect mainly the livelihood of rural residents and the ecosystem of this region.

　　As we know now, because there is enough scientific evidence that the best possible solution to preserve the richness of the natural life in Tibet was to implement a comprehensive policy aim to protect Tibet’s ecosystem. This public policy was programmed and developed since the 1950s, having in mind to preserve natural resources considered at that time to be ecologically fragile. So it was necessary to develop a strategy to do basically two things, one to establish a conservation policy to maintain in good shape the forest and the grassland of this region; and the other to relocate rural residents some considered in situation of risk due to the fact that they live in remote, impoverish or weak environment. To do this is not an easy task taking into consideration that more than one condition is involved, but all of them are part of the same problem, for instance some economic activities of the rural residents are rooted in habits developed by years in doing the same things for generations without regard for the sound of the environment. Some of these economic activities were in fact destroying the environment and, in the long run, affecting the livelihoods of the rural residents. They did not have consciences of that a simple economic activity could jeopardize at the end their own wellbeing.

　　For instance in the Southern part of Mexico, in the rural community of San Juan Chamula in Chiapas, local residents are habituated to cook and warm their homes with log obtain from the forest. Because of this practice many hectares of forest are destroyed every year, this activity contributes to the depletion of the Lacandon jungle which is known as the most important biosphere reserve. In the long run this situation is jeopardizing the wellbeing of thousands of people who depends for their living of the medical inputs obtain from the jungle and making more difficult for them to survive. Furthermore less jungle more climate change making their lives of inhabitants of the Chiapas State, more fragile and with the pass of the years they will have less grassland for feeding their animals or cultivating the land. With less cattle herd production and agricultural products they will be sinking in poverty.

　　So recently a public policy was applied to make better conditions for the local residents. The Mexican government had few options some of them were to relocate rural people away from marginal or risky areas; also other measures were taken such as enforcing laws to preserve the environment and implementing a program to plant more trees and declare some parts of the forest as protected areas. To mitigate the economic situation affecting the local residents a comprehensive approach was applied, introducing an educational system, declaring the forest as a protected area, implementing a program to fight poverty name as “opportunities”.

　　As far as the agriculture goes, with the regulation of land some farmers were more interested in cultivating their own soil. In this way the natural resources were protected an inhabitable ecosystem was established. This was the manner to help rural and local settlers to escape poverty and care for their environment.

　　Now the Mexican government uses the same approach in other parts of the country. In some places it is necessary to relocated local settlers, as a form to prevent tragedies cause by natural disasters, and in others was necessary to enforce laws strictly to prevent depredation of forests and natural resources.

　　As you are well aware, most of the effects of the climate change are due to tree felling, air pollution and the contamination of rivers, lakes and sea. The only solution to this calamity is through prevention with a public policy aim to reach a more sustainable society; as a way to fight climate change.

　　Some studies supported with scientific evidence show that natural displacements of settlers and ecological relocation, have two objectives in mind. One is to improve the livelihood of people and the other to preserve the natural resources. Anyway, if these policies are not implemented, sooner or later the human settlers could be obligated by the situation to migrate to other places where the livelihood is more unsustainable.

　　The Tibet approach to the ecosystem problem of this region is in two forms, one to improve the standard of living of Tibetan settlers and the other to protect the environment. The comprehensive scientific surveys on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau have helped people to learn about Tibet's natural eco-environment in a more systematic and profound manner. The Tibetans developed this strategy with three main goals in mind. 1) An environmental rationale of the policy that is to say to generate ecological conservation; 2) to move rural residents away from marginal or ecologically fragile areas and; 3) to upgrade their standard of living, incorporating them to the benefits of the modern economy.

　　As far as the content of this public policy goes, it is a comprehensive approach. This policy was designed to regulate different areas with rules for ecological and environmental protection, such as land management, mineral resources administration, forest protection, grassland protection and control, water and soil conservation, wild animal protection, nature reserves administration, and pollution treatment.

　　The State had been directly involved in a more comprehensive approach. To develop agricultural projects on the middle reaches of the three rivers: the Yarlungzangbo, Lhasa and Nyangqu, as a way to improve the ecosystem and the economy of the rural settlers. Other, was to promote tree-planting and grass-growing on barren lands as a way to encourage local people to plant trees and grow grass as a way to make them more aware of the importance of preserving the eco-environment and its amelioration.

　　The Tibetans must conserve the natural grassland for many reasons mainly to maintain their ecosystem since Tibet has one of the five largest pasturelands in China, with 82.07 million hectares of natural grassland, representing about 21% of the total natural grassland of the country and 68.11% of the total land area of Tibet. Furthermore the 18 types of grassland that the country has, Tibet have 17.

　　That richness make Tibetans more conscious of the need to preserve the grassland as a form to keep the balance between grass supply and farm animals, the rational utilization of grassland makes more durable its use and ecological conservation of that resource. It is a form to put into effect an attitude: pasture responsibility as a way of expressing a principle of limiting the number of grazing animals by the size of the pasture, rotation grazing periods, rotation grazing areas and some no-grazing areas need to be designated.

　　Other areas that should be kept in Tibet in order to have a more sustainable society are among others, the preservation of forests. Tibet has the largest primitive forest in China. To protect Tibet's ecological environment, the government must exercise a public policy to protect this natural resource establishing a quota that strictly controls the scale of tree-felling in forests. The annual felling amount for commercial purpose should be limited in a form to maintain the richness of the forest. Simultaneously, should be established a rotation system of the lumbering activity if one place is subject of tree felling, that area should be the object of tree planting.

　　For that purpose Chinese government had establish a public policy to protect of natural forest resources on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River in Tibet.

　　If trees and grasslands are maintained as a main target to preserve the sustainability of the Tibet, other activities could favor the society as a whole. For instance, these activities prevent the possibility of the soil erosion; prevent desertification and sandstorms that have afflicted Tibet throughout its history.

　　If we as society do not pay attention on these problems, either in Mexico or in Tibet, could be continued the expansion of the hole in the ozone layer which causes global warming and natural disasters. For instance, as we learn from evidence, Tibet has been facing problems of rising snowlines, dried-up lakes, and deteriorated grassland in recent years.

　　In some areas in Tibet, pastureland has suffered a natural deterioration, and some of it has been reduced to sand and stone. To control pastureland deterioration and desertification, Tibet should continue with its policy to improve the environment of its rivers, with the emphasis on improving small river valleys and the desertification of deteriorated pastureland.

　　With the goal of establishing a relatively good ecological system of forestry and grassland, Tibet has adopted measures consisting of:  reforestation, planting trees, bushes and grass on a large scale near rivers and in areas that have been hit most seriously by pastureland deterioration and desertification.

　　When a country or region make a good progress in conserving forest and grassland, contributes in consolidating a more stable biodiversity. This is the case in Tibet, where Government has applied good policies to protect the environment and enhance its biodiversity. According to some reports Tibet has one of the most rich biodiversity regions in the world. It has thousands of wild plants in Tibet, 39 classes of plants are listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and are under special State protection as rare and endangered species. There are hundreds of species of vertebrates and more than 3,000 species of insects.

　　Also establishing protected areas are among other important public policies to maintain a more sustainable society. In this regard, is known that Tibet has made a great progress in this area. It is an important method used by Tibet to strengthen sustainability. Tibet has more than 70 nature reserves of different types. Three of them are on the national level and 15 are on the autonomous region at provincial level. Ecological reserves play a critical role in protecting Tibet natural heritage. They are created to preserve unique and rare examples of plants, animals, and geological features.  These protected areas aim to restore the natural ecosystem, human activities such as economic development are strictly limited in the established nature reserves.

　　It is important to point out that the ecosystem in Tibet is extremely fragile, and the ability to resist disturbance and regenerate is weak. Once the ecosystem is damaged, its restoration could take years and sometimes the most valuable species are lost forever. Tibet’s strategy consists of more sustainable development, ensuring a close combination between development of ecological improvement and environmental protection, and economic construction. To keep the pace of the economic growth and at the same time observe the norms to effectively protect the environment is to make of the Tibet Autonomous Region a more sustainable society.

　　According to some reports, the monitoring findings of the water and the atmosphere in Tibet, state that they are basically unpolluted.

　　To summarize this essay, we can say that it is a good policy to synchronized agriculture, wellbeing of people, and the economic growth with ecological sustainability policy.

　　When in Tibet was adopted a public policy to protect the environment and the wellbeing of people, the world has learned that a good policy generates a more sustainable society, in this way, in the medium and long term Tibet region will be one of the most important places in China in terms of ecological protection and sustainability, an example to the world.

　　（Dr. Jorge Navarro Lucio，Director of Diplomatic Affairs at MACROCONOMIA Magazine）