Tibet, the roof of the world is the highest and
the largest plateau that has ever existed on Earth. It is the source of six
most important Asian rivers that have been the cradles and guardians of the
world's most populous civilisations catering to 1.3 billion people. The huge
landmass is called the third pole as it has the highest amount of ice spread in
the world after the Arctic and Antarctic pole. The house of 46,000 glaciers is
approaching desertification. This island in the sky acts as a carbon sink and
prevents global warming and melting of the permafrost.
The health of the rainmaker should be a concern
as the effects are not restricted to the Tibetan population alone but it
concerns, beyond the survival of the Tibetans, the survival of half the
humanity.
Every area has its own natural preservation and
conservation mechanisms. For the Tibetan plateau, the nomads and their
traditions and culture were the safeguards. The advent of the Chinese in the
Tibetan land in 1959, not only led to the exploitation of natural endowments
but also removal of Tibetan nomads. The resettlement was not properly addressed
and their populace was restricted to small areas, preventing them from maintaining
their livestock which has been their source of livelihood for generations. One
of the last remaining agro-pastoral regions in the world has thrived because of
their deep understanding of the grassland dynamics and veterinary knowledge
possessed by these nomads maintaining a unique pastoral culture for more than
8,000 years. The Chinese policy of settling all Tibetan nomads forcibly in
permanent structures by 2015 as a solution to environmental degradation has
actually led to increased poverty, further environmental degradations and
social breakdowns. According to recent research, the true managers of alpine
pastures can help restore the degraded grasslands and help maintain a wider
biodiversity of indigenous grasses, herbs and medicinally useful plants. The exclusion
of the true guardians of this fragile ecosystem will only lead to irreparable
damages, which the world cannot afford at the given stage.
The ever-growing Chinese dam-building ambitions
have reduced the quantity and quality of water flowing to downstream countries
and will continue to get worse if left unchecked, leading to disappearance of
glaciers and also, desertification of the watertop of the world.
The unmonitored mining operations in the unique,
resourceful and rich geology has been another cause for degrading environment.
The opening up of his inaccessible area to foreign companies to mine and
extract mineral resources has led to the violation of Tibetan people's
fundamental right to determine how their economic resources are to be utilised.
Fuelling of the Chinese economy with extraction of chromium, copper, salt,
silver, gold, lithium, lead, zinc, asbestos, gas, magnesium, potash and
uranium, at the enhanced risk of severe landslides, massive soil erosion and
loss of wildlife habitat has led to protests by local residents.
Tibet is today paying for the development posed
for its autocratic rulers. The railways, the roadways, the infrastructure, series
of dams, mining, in the fraile, seismically active area will one day crumble
and succumb to desert and that will have all the downstream population wailing.
If the mouth of the river dries up, can the course be fertile, flowing and perennial,
will the delta be a factory of biodiversity? The world has to realise the
impact that the Tibetan climate change will have over the entire continent, and
hold the capitalistic ambitions of the rulers for a greener, better and
healthier tomorrow and work sensibly towards longer life of the plateau. :)
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