Trees for Tibet

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Help Tibet, the “Roof of the World” and its people to save their environment

Since the 1949 occupation of Tibet, up to 50% of its forest has been needlessly destroyed. As China is the 3^rd largest consumer of timber in the world the future for Tibet’s forests seems bleak. As early as 1642 the 5^th Dalai Lama issued a decree for the protection of animals and environment of Tibet’s unique ecosystem on the “Roof of the world”. Deforestation is becoming a very serious problem in Tibet, leading to extensive soil erosion, desertification habitat loss, climatic effects and high sediment rates in the river.

For a country which has 70% Grassland on which 70,000,000 animals and 1,000,000 people are dependent, desertification, soil erosion and habitat loss are detrimental. The unique life of Nomad is under threat as the destruction of their land and Chinese policies are forcing them in to cities of which they have no experience, leading to poverty, homelessness and a loss of their culture and identity. In the past 35 years the desert area in Tibet has expanded 500,000 km². What are the farmers and Nomads who have grazed this land for generation to do?

The problem of increasingly high sediment rates in the river due to deforestation is magnified when 10 of Asia’s major rivers are sourced in Tibet e.g. the Yellow River, the Yangtze and Brahmaputra. These rivers sustain 47% of the world´s population and 85% of Asia’s!

After the 1998 Yangtze floods in China which killed 10,000 and left 240,000 homeless, the Chinese Government admitted it was linked to Tibet’s deforestation. As was the 1998 Brahmaputra River floods in the Bay of Bengal, because it has now become one of the most silted rivers in the world due to Tibet’s deforestation. If 85% of Asia relies on these rivers flowing from Tibet to live, how will they survive if the silt levels continue to increase contaminating the water and causing floods?

The Chinese Government answer to the problem is proving detrimental to the Tibetan people. The once freely roamed Grasslands farmed with centuries of knowledge are now being fenced off and the Nomads by law are being forced to sell their animals. Their land is being allocated to new Chinese settlers with no experience and to the Military, leading to over farming and desertification.

It is essential that the Tibetan people´s knowledge is respected and that they are empowered in protecting their own environment and future.

Yaks provide Nomads food (yak milk, yoghurt, butter, cheese and meat), fuel (yak dung) and a shelter (hide for blankets, clothing, boots, threads, bags and ropes.)

All is interconnected and dependent