(CN) Species protection no wild ambition

[Guest guest]

China Daily

http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2002-11-06/92525.html

(CHEN LIANG)

11/06/2002

 

At the end of May, eight herdsmen left their homes in Chabu Township in

Gertse County in the northwestern part of Tibet Autonomous Region.

They pretended to drive their yaks towards the southern rangelands by day,

but actually moved towards the core areas of Changtang National Nature

Reserve in northern Gertse by night.

 

When they entered the no-man's lands of the largest reserves in China which

cover an area of about 298,000 square kilometres in the northwestern part of

Tibet, they started to hunt Tibetan antelopes (chiru in Tibetan) with their

rifles.

 

On June 1, the poachers encountered three rangers from Nima County which

borders Gertse in the east. They laid an ambush and shot a ranger dead.

 

When the police caught seven of the poachers later that month, they seized

four rifles, more than 300 antelope furs and more than 1,200 bullets.

 

Urgent need

 

The region's biggest case of poaching in the past two years impelled Dawa

Tsering and Drolma Yangzom to co-operate and hold a training course of

wildlife conservation and management in the county.

 

" I made a trip to Changtang in July to investigate our current projects and

collect information for future work, " said Dawa, Tibet Programme

co-ordinator of WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) China Programme Office.

 

" In Shuanghu (Special Administrative District) and Nima County, I sensed the

locals' strengthened awareness of conservation, but I heard of the case in

Gertse. I knew it was the place where immediate action should be carried

out. "

 

Back in Lhasa, he proposed to Drolma, director of Nature Reserve Management

Office of the region's forestry department, that WWF Tibet Programme and the

department co-sponsor a training course in Gertse. She accepted.

 

On September 25, the two left Lhasa together with 11 members of a

Sino-Norwegian expedition which would make a wildlife survey in the core

areas of the reserve in northern Gertse following the training exercise.

 

At the end of a journey covering more than 1,200 kilometres, the group

arrived in the county seat of Gertse in the small hours of September 27. In

the afternoon, the four-day training course was opened in the building of

the local government.

 

Practical lectures

 

The training course attracted more than 30 local Tibetan administrators and

reserve rangers from the county town and six townships of Gertse.

 

Lectures covered multi-disciplinary issues while participants learned of the

uniqueness of the Changtang reserve and the importance of protecting it from

an international perspective.

 

" There are only two or three regions in the world where people can still see

a large number of big mammals migrating in the wild, " said Dr Joseph L. Fox,

associate professor from the University of Tromso in Norway. " Changtang is

one of them. Chiru is one of several migratory mammal species that still

exist on the planet.

 

" I saw 12,000 chirus there almost two years ago. Certainly we should keep

such an amazing place undisturbed. "

 

The country has already established legal provisions for nature reserves and

wildlife conservation such as the Changtang reserve, Drolma said.

 

And with the help of local participants, Drolma confirmed the boundaries of

experimental, buffer and core zones of the reserve in the county and defined

different means of management in different zones.

 

" We know we can plan some development projects in some areas of the reserve,

but are unable to do so in other areas, " she said.

 

During the sessions, Migmar Wangdwei, a lecturer from Tibet University,

talked about the food chain of the rangeland ecosystem in this area. Shichu

Dorje, a researcher from Tibet Institute of Agriculture and Animal

Husbandry, spoke on management and development of rangelands.

 

Dawa Tsering introduced basic methods of wildlife surveying and monitoring.

A specially designed wildlife survey and monitor data sheet in both Tibetan

and Chinese was distributed to trainees.

 

" They can use it during their usual conservation works, " he explained.

 

" After one or two years, the forestry department will collect these sheets

and get a broader view of the living circumstances of wildlife in the

reserve. "

 

The lectures proved to be inspirational.

 

" Before the training session was held, I didn't know that wolves and

(Tibetan) pika played an important role in maintaining our grassland

environment, " said Nima Gyalpo, a trainee from Dongtso Township in southern

Gertse.

 

" I thought they were harmful animals and should be exterminated. "

 

Pudado, head of Xianqian Township in Northern Gertse, said: " Now I know a

large part of our township belongs to the core zone of the reserve. "

 

But attendants from three townships - Dongtso, Mami and Wuma in southern

Gertse - looked baffled at their involvement because none of the townships

are within the limits of jurisdiction of the reserve.

 

" Though not many chirus are seen in our township, there are many kiangs

(Tibetan wild donkey), guwas (Tibetan gazelle) and birds, " said Dawa

Lobsang, head of the Wuma Township. " Some areas of our township should

become part of the reserve. "

 

Heated discussions

 

The lectures led to heated brain-storming discussions among participants.

Many problems were put on the table.

 

Norlha, head of the county, said that Tibetan nomads in the area had the

tradition of hunting wild animals to eat. The major reason for illegal

hunting in Gertse remained the extreme shortage of daily necessities in

remote northern pastoral areas.

 

According to the official, Gertse covers an area of more than 100,000 square

kilometres and just Chabu Township has an area of more than 30,000 square

kilometres. Because of poor transportation and communication conditions,

many nomads can only rely on traders from eastern Tibet for their daily

necessities.

 

As a result, some traders tempt them to hunt chirus in exchange for the

goods they need. Gyalla, head of the local forestry police, said suspects in

the June case admitted some traders provided rifles and bullets to them and

promised a brand-new truck for their chiru furs.

 

But there are only 800-900 villages with a population of less than 4,000,

Norlha said. " We could build houses and dig wells to settle them in the

southern rangelands so they will no longer suffer from shortages of daily

necessities.

 

" In this way, we can leave more space to wildlife and decrease incidents of

poaching and conflict between animals and human beings. "

 

But many experts pointed out it might not be a good idea. The risk of

environmental degradation through fencing pastures on a large scale and

over-grazing remains.

 

Many trainees complained that a kind of toxic weed had been spreading

rapidly in the southern rangelands of the county for several years and this

had led to many sheep and goats dying every year.

 

" It's probably a sign of rangeland degradation, " said Migmar Wangdwei.

 

As a result, many nomads have chosen to herd cattle northwards for better

pasture, even into the core areas of the reserve, which in turn has

intensified the competition between wildlife and livestock.

 

Dawa, deputy director of Chabu Township, said male wild yaks often sneaked

into a herd of yaks, killed male yaks and seduced female yaks to leave the

herd. When herdsmen tried to separate wild yaks and their yaks, they were

often hurt or even killed by the animals.

 

Pudado said a large group of kiangs, often more than 100, could easily eat

grass on a whole stretch of pasture reserved by nomads for their livestock.

So herdsmen often fence their pasture or fire warning shots to keep kiangs

out.

 

" But the fence and shots sometimes hurt or killed the animal, " he said.

 

Many trainees said the local population of Tibetan wild donkey has increased

too fast in recent years and the animal is becoming a harmful creature. Some

asked whether the local government could reduce the population by planned

hunting.

 

" Absolutely not, " said Drolma. " No matter how many kiangs there are, they

are still a species under the State's first-level protection. Hunting them

in terms of anything so far has been illegal. "

 

Joseph Fox added: " We must know a limit is always there. Many pastures we

now occupy used to be land for wildlife. "

 

In addition, many local attendants pointed out that mining was becoming a

threat to the reserve, as miners illegally hunted for food and some mining

activities seriously damaged the environment.

 

Beyond discussions

 

Though the participants have yet to come up with solutions to these

problems, the training did go beyond discussions.

 

Drolma said she would send her proposals to policy-makers in the region to

ensure environmental impact evaluation was added to the approval procedure

for future mining projects, especially those within nature reserves.

 

" Of course no mining activity is allowed in buffer and core zones of a

reserve, " she said.

 

Shichu said that he would make efforts to seek a project to study the toxic

weed.

 

More importantly, the local forestry bureau signed an agreement with the

government of each of the three townships (Xianqian, Gumu and Chabu) in

northern Gertse during the training.

 

According to this agreement, the bureau will provide basic transport

equipment, communication and monitoring of the protection station in each of

the townships, training for local patrolmen, and funds to maintain the

station.

 

In return, township governments are responsible for improving conservation

awareness of local people, employing patrolmen, supervising daily work of

protection stations, and organizing patrols.

 

Drolma and Dawa also declared that Tibet Forestry Department and WWF Tibet

Programme would launch some co-operative projects to improve the capacity of

wildlife conservation in Gertse as well as the local nomads' life.

 

The forestry department will soon provide a truck and a wireless transmitter

to each of the three townships for patrolling the reserve and transporting

daily necessities to nomads living in remote rangelands, Drolma said.

 

Dawa said that he would raise 50,000 yuan (US$6,040) for each of the three

townships to purchase necessities in Lhasa.

 

" We expect the trucks and the fund will help build up a small commodities

supply centre in each of the townships, " Dawa explained. " This will

definitely benefit both conservation and people's lives. "

 

Puchong, deputy director of Xianqian Township, said the township would not

accept the money right away.

 

" We're not sure whether we can run the business well, " he said.

 

" We will wait and see. "

 

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Wildlife programmes on target

 

11/06/2002

 

As the world's largest independent conservation organization, the World Wide

Fund for Nature (WWF) started to implement a biodiversity conservation

programme in China's Tibet Autonomous Region in 1998.

That September, it sponsored the Tibet's Biodiversity International Workshop

together with the region's forestry department, foreign affair and sciences

committee. The workshop allowed policy-makers, conservation practitioners,

and experts to not only raise questions and issues, but also produce

concrete suggestions on the conservation and development of Tibet's

biodiversity.

 

In August 2001, WWF China Programme set up its Tibet Programme office in

Lhasa to strengthen its conservation activities in the region.

 

" We decided to pay special attention to developing and strengthening

management and anti-poaching capacity in Changtang and Shenzha nature

reserves in the region, " said Dawa Tsering, co-ordinator of the Tibet

programme.

 

South of the Changtang National Nature Reserve, the Shengzha Nature Reserve

was established in 1993 to protect the black-necked crane and its largest

summer habitat.

 

He said the WWF has this year spent about 670,000 yuan (US$80,920) to

establish five township-level protection stations in Amdo, Nima, Geji and

Rutok counties and Shuanghu Special Administrative District - all within the

limits of jurisdiction of the Changtang reserve and a county-level station

in Shengzha County.

 

" We didn't build any protection station in Gertse, " he explained. " Because

the region's forestry department has been building three protection stations

in three townships in northern Gertse. "

 

Station staff are equipped with jeeps and wireless transmitters.

 

Co-operating with the region's forestry department, the WWF Tibet Programme

also provides a series of training exercises on patrolling, wildlife

monitoring, and the legal provisions of nature reserves and wildlife

conservation to officials of local management departments and station staff.

 

" The training course in Gertse is the first of its kind held in a county in

the region, " Dawa said. " Now we plan to continue the same kind of training

course in each of the other five counties in the Changtang reserve. "

 

In February, the programme sponsored experts from Beijing University to

provide geographic information system (GIS) training for relevant people

from the region's forestry department and the Lhasa forestry bureau. They

helped establish a GIS lab for the forestry department, which will collect

and analyze information relevant to reserves and reserve management.

 

Dawa is currently raising funds to build a vegetable greenhouse and a mobile

clinic in Shuanghu. " As a special district, most parts of Shuanghu is within

the core zone of the Changtang reserve, " he said. " We expect these

facilities can improve the life of local nomads, raise their conservation

awareness and benefit wildlife. "

 

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Changtang Reserve

 

11/06/2002

 

In Tibetan, " Chang-tang " is an indistinct term referring to the northern

Tibetan Plateau.

Traditionally it includes northern areas of Ngakchu, Ngari and Xigaze

prefectures in China's Tibet Autonomous Region and covers an area of more

than half of the region. It has no clear boundaries.

 

The Changtang National Nature Reserve is actually a part of Chang-tang,

located in its central areas. It follows administrative borders and consists

of parts of six counties of Ngachu and Ngari Prefectures: Amdo, Nima,

Shuanghu, Gertse, Geji and Rutok.

 

Established in 1988, it is the second-largest protected area in the world.

Most of the reserve lies between 4,400 and 5,000 metres in elevation, and a

number of mountains rise to 6,000 metres above the sea level.

 

There are no major rivers in the reserve: All drainage is internal. Its

climate is harsh, with no frost-free season. Even in the height of summer,

night-time temperatures can be below freezing.

 

It consists of broad, rolling steppes broken by hills and glacier-capped

mountains and large basins, often dotted with lakes.

 

The reserve not only represents one of the last unspoilt grassland

ecosystems but also harbours a matchless assemblage of large mammals. The

wild hoofed animals include Tibetan antelopes, Tibetan gazelles, Tibetan

argali, blue sheep, Tibetan wild donkeys (kiangs) and wild yaks. Many of

them are unique to the Tibetan Plateau.

 

Predators include wolves, snow leopards, brown bears, red foxes, Tibetan

foxes and lynxes. Among small mammals are plateau pikas, Himalayan marmots

and Tibetan woolly hares.