New Views Of The Tibetan Plateau

New Views of the Tibetan Plateau Text by Daniel Miller Photographs courtesy of NASA

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rom a global environmental perspective, few other places in the world are as important as the Tibetan Plateau is now. Rising concerns about global warming, climate change, receding glaciers, desertification, food insecurity and loss of biodiversity all point to the significance of the Tibetan Plateau in addressing these global challenges. Tackling these important global issues require greatly increased scientific research in Tibetan areas and improved understanding of current land use practices, especially of agriculture, forestry and livestock grazing. Critical examination of existing environmental conservation and economic development policies and programs is required. New thinking on how we view the Tibetan landscape is also needed.

The Tibetan Plateau refers to a unique geographical area of Asia; a landscape not marked by lines drawn on a map, but defined by topography. It is a region with particular geological, ecological and socio-cultural characteristics that distinguishes it. Tackling global environmental challenges in the 21st century demands that we start to view the Tibetan Plateau more holistically and try to develop a better understanding of its unique ecology, the value of its natural resources and its illustrious cultural heritage. To really grasp the significance of the Tibetan Plateau, in terms of its central position in Asia, its extensive land area and extreme topography, a new perspective of the Tibetan landscape is required. In my office I have a plastic, raised-relief map of China in which the Tibetan Plateau and adjoining mountain ranges stand out clearly. This map visibly depicts the vast area encompassed by the plateau and the abrupt uplift of the Himalaya rising from the plains of northern India. This map allows you to better see the nature of the Tibetan Plateau and helps you to develop a better appreciation for how large and high in elevation it is compared to the surrounding areas.

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A remarkable image that provides a new perspective of the Tibetan Plateau is a computergenerated visualization based on remotely sensed data acquired by satellites. In this image, developed by the Scientific Visualization Studio, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, the elevation of the Himalaya and Tibet has been exaggerated, enabling one to better perceive the central position of the Tibetan Plateau in Asia and its unique geography. Looking at this map you can easily see why Tibet is termed the “Roof of the World” and how it dominates the map of Asia. You can also notice how rivers flow out of the mountains and across the plains of India into the Bay of Bengal.

Computer generated visualization of the Tibetan Plateau based on satellite imagery. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.

In addition to satellite-derived images, hand-held photographs taken of the earth by astronauts in Space Shuttle missions and on the International Space Station provide an out-of-the-ordinary observation of the Tibetan Plateau (all of these images are available for viewing and downloading from the NASA website: http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/sseop/). Taken at heights of 200 to 400 km above the earth, these photos provide a fascinating point of view; an outlook that captures not only the magnificent splendor of the Himalaya Mountains and other ranges, but also the immense expanse of the Tibetan Plateau. The photographs from space enable you to really envisage the lay of the land from a broad, landscape perspective, especially those oblique shots that show the horizon. Unhindered by the clutter of political boundaries one begins to define the land by watersheds, by mountain ranges and large lakes; the natural demarcations of an environment. One needs to keep in mind that on these astronaut photos, north is not always at the top of the photograph.

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Astronaut photograph of Western Tibet and the Himalaya looking west with the Space Shuttle visible in the top of the photo. In this image, the bow-shaped lake in the bottom center of the photo is Peko Tso in the Kyirong region. To the left is Nepal and the plains of northern India. The Changtang, or northern plains of Tibet, is on the right. In the distance is the Kailash region and beyond that, Ladakh. NASA. Image ID: STS41G-120-22, taken in October 1984

These views from space provide a new look of the Tibetan Plateau. A perspective that helps one to think globally. They enable you to see the landscape in its entirety. Environmental conservation and development strategies for the Tibetan Plateau need to encompass a broad scale and implement programs at the level at which natural systems operate. This landscape level of attention ensures persistence of populations and ecological processes and has to work across political boundaries. Artificial, man-made politically drawn lines on a map do not stop a river from flowing downhill nor do they prevent black-necked cranes from migrating or Tibetan argali and Tibetan wild ass from crossing international borders in search of forage to graze on. Birds and animals don’t need passports and visas to travel across the earth and we now need to adopt a similar style in how we perceive landscapes. The American poet, Gary Snyder, got it right when he wrote, “Now, with insights from the ecological sciences, we know that we must think on a scale of a whole watershed, a natural system. A habitat. To save the life of a single parrot or monkey is truly admirable. But unless the forest is saved, they will all die.” Saving the Tibetan Plateau requires a new way of thinking; an approach that recognizes watersheds instead of political frontiers to define plans of action for conservation and development. It also requires acceptance of the complex nature of the Tibetan landscape, not only in the ways that physical forces shape it, but also in ways that socio-economic and institutional forces interact and impact the nomads and farmers who use the natural resources. 3

The Tibetan Plateau plays a very important role in global climate change. With its extensive alpine grasslands that store considerable carbon in their plants and in the soil, the Plateau is a significant carbon pool. The carbon stored in the grassland ecosystem plays an important role in regional and global carbon cycles and has the potential to modify global carbon cycles and indirectly influence climate. What takes place in the Tibetan grasslands therefore should be of increasing importance to a world more and more concerned about global climate change. With thousands of glaciers scattered across the Plateau and the Himalaya the region has the most snow and ice outside of the polar regions. The glacier-fed rivers originating from the Tibetan Plateau make up the largest river run-off from any single location in the world. With global warming the total area of glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau is expected to shrink by 80 percent by the year 2030. The loss of these glaciers will dramatically affect major rivers that provide water for more than one-third of the world’s population. The effect of glaciers receding will be felt not just in Tibetan areas, but well beyond the borders of the Tibetan Plateau with profound impacts over a wide area in Asia and great risks of increased poverty, reduced trade and economic turmoil. This presents major political, environmental and socio-economic challenges in the years ahead. The Tibetan Plateau forms the headwaters environment where many important rivers have their beginnings. Here, the Yellow, Yangtze, Mekong, Salween, Brahmaputra, Ganges, Sutlej and Indus Rivers originate. In addition, rivers from the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau flow into the Tarim Basin and the Gansu Corridor, providing precious water for the oasis towns along the old Silk Road. The management of these river source environments has global implications, as the water from their watersheds will be of increasing importance in the fuAstronaut photograph of the Brahmaputra River, or Tsangpo as it is known in ture. The water they provide is Tibetan, near Samye. In this image, north is at the bottom of the image and the river is flowing from right to left. NASA. Image ID: ISS003-E-6632. Oct. 31, 2001 critical to the survival of millions of people downstream in China, India and other countries in South and Southeast Asia. As such, simply for the water that it provides, the Tibetan Plateau demands greater attention. The recent floods in the Indian states of Bihar and Assam draw attention to the critical role of the Tibetan environment in regulating water flow to downstream areas. How many people realize that the Kosi River that recently flooded and displaced millions of people in the northern Indian state of Bihar actually has its origins on the north side of Mt. Everest in Tibet? Or that almost 60 percent of the total length of the 2,906 km-long Brahmaputra River that floods India and Bangladesh every year is located in Tibet?

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A number of globally important biodiversity “hotspots” are located on the Tibetan Plateau. With their highly distinctive species, ecological processes, and evolutionary phenomena, these areas are some of the most important areas on earth for conserving biodiversity. The Tibetan Plateau is one of the most ecologically diverse landscapes on earth. It also includes the most intact example of mountain rangelands in Asia with a relatively intact vertebrate fauna, and is one of the largest remaining terrestrial wilderness regions left in the world. The area is home to numerous rare and endangered wildlife species such as the wild yak, Tibetan wild ass, or kiang, the migratory Tibetan antelope, or chiru, Tibetan argali and snow leopard. Conserving these animals and their habitat is an important priority for the global conservation community. Conservation of wildlife depends on Astronaut photo of southern Tibet looking south into the Mustang region of better protection of the species, im- Nepal. Annapurna Himal is on the left of the gorge cut by the Kali Gandaki proved understanding of their ecology River and Dhaulagiri Himal is on the right. Mustang is a natural trade route and better insights into the dynamics through the Himalaya between Nepal and Tibet. NASA. Apr. 26, 2003 of the Tibetan Plateau ecosystem, es- Image ID: ISS006-E-52613 pecially the rangelands. It also requires innovative approaches to conservation and pastoral development that adopt participatory, integrated ecosystem management models that work at the landscape level with the local people actually using the natural resources. Tibetan nomads provide examples of nomadic livestock production practices that were once widespread throughout the world, but are now increasingly rare. With their tents rolled up in bundles and lashed to the back of yaks as they move across the steppes, Tibetan nomads offer a rare perspective on life. Their world operates on a rhythm quite different from the one to which we are accustomed. Nomads’ lives are finely tuned to the growth of grass, the births of animals and the seasonal movement of their herds. Like many people living close to nature, nomads have developed a close connection to the land and the livestock that nurture them. The fact that Tibetan nomads and, in some areas, wildlife, have managed to exist on the Tibetan Plateau until recently, attests to the rationality and efficacy of many aspects of traditional Tibetan nomadic pastoral production. Over thousands of years, Tibetan nomads accommodated to their environment, learning to live with what it offered instead of changing and molding the landscape to suit their needs, as farmers try to do. Thus, Tibetan nomads have much to teach us about living in harmony with the land.

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NASA Image ID: STS27-33-57, Dec. 3, 1988.

In the last quarter century, the nomadic pastoral areas on the Tibetan Plateau have seen far-reaching changes. These changes are radically transforming age-old livestock production methods, land-use practices and the socio-economic fabric of Tibetan society. Many rangelands that used to be managed communally have been privatized, allocated to individual households and fenced. Conflicts over grazing rights have led to “range wars” in some areas. Fences have curtailed seasonal movements of live stock, leading to overgrazing in many places. Fences have also triggered conflicts with wildlife, especially kiang and chiru. In the northeastern Astronaut photo of the lake, Namtso looking from south- Tibetan Plateau, in what is now known as Qinghai west to northeast. The Brahmaputra River, or Tsangpo, Province, it is estimated that about one-third of the flowing from left to right is visible in lower left. NASA. rangelands are considered to be overgrazed. Authorities, concerned with environmental degradation, are moving nomads out of the grasslands and settling them in towns, but nomads are often ill-prepared for this new type of existence, lacking the education and skills to find gainful employment. What happens when nomads are forced to settle and move into towns? Is their indigenous knowledge of the rangelands and livestock lost? Is their relationship with the environment severed? Does a ‘home on the range’ have to signify the demise of Tibetan nomadic pastoralism? These are important questions that require answers in order to develop the rangelands of the Tibetan Plateau in a sustainable manner and in ways that are sensitive to Tibetans’ needs and desires. There will be a great and tragic emptiness on the Tibetan Plateau if the environment is allowed to deteriorate. The irreplaceable Tibetan culture will be transformed beyond recognition and Tibetans will lose their singular identity. The wildlife – grand, moving masses of migratory chiru, herds of magnificent wild yak, and graceful Tibetan gazelle bounding across the steppes – will only be found in photographs of explorers’ accounts or in the memories of older Tibetans told to their children. These consequences can be avoided if timely action is taken to acknowledge the special attributes of the Tibetan Plateau ecosystem. This requires serious evaluation of the natural resources, increased understanding of current land use practices, greater appreciation for Tibetan nomads and farmers and their worldview and a rethinking of current development approaches.

Astronaut photo of Central Tibet looking southwest. The large lake on the right is Namtso. The Kyichu, where Lhasa is located, is visible as is the Tsangpo River and Yamdrok Tso. NASA. Image ID: STS58-74-11, Oct. 20, 1993.

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The challenge is to balance the diverse economic, cultural and social needs of the inhabitants of the Tibetan Plateau with the need to maintain the environment and conserve the biodiversity and cultural heritage of the landscape. This calls for strengthened participation by local communities in the entire development process. It also requires that Tibetans’ indigenous knowledge of the environment is better understood and that there is greater acknowledgement of the efficacy of many traditional natural resource management practices and beliefs. Astronaut photo of Qinghai Lake.. NASA Image ID: ISS006-E-50357, April 30, 2003

The survival of the Tibetan Plateau environment, with its globally strategic water resources, extensive range-lands providing livelihoods for millions of nomads and farmers, and unique biodiversity, depends on greater respect for the earth’s living things. It also requires new attitudes that view the landscape more holistically, with greater appreciation for its intrinsic beauty as well as the economical value of its natural resources, and with a better sense of its sacred nature.

Astronaut photo of Tso Ngonbo in the region of Amdo in northeast Tibet. The sacred mountain, Amnye Machin is visible in the bottom center of the photograph. NASA. Image ID: ISS010-E-7353, Nov. 17, 2004. 7

The Tibetan Plateau is in peril. Glaciers are shrinking. Lakes are drying up. Rangelands are over-grazed and forests are mismanaged. Biodiversity is being lost. Spiritual connections that the Tibetans have with the landscape are also eroding. Economic development is often pursued at the expense of the environment and local peoples’ aspirations, affecting the long term sustainability of the land to provide natural resources for the future. Reversing these trends needs to become a greater priority for the world conservation community.

Left: Astronaut photograph of the Kailash area in Western Tibet, looking northwest, with the holy lakes Manasarovar on the right and Rakas Tal on the left. Mt. Kailash, or Kang Rinpoche, is to the north of the lakes. Image ID: STS5874-2, October 20, 1993. Above: A close-up photo of the Kailash area with the lakes frozen. Mt. Kailash is to the right of Rakas Tal (the lake on the left) at the 2 o’clock direction. NASA. ID: STS55-76-24, 1993.

The Mandarin Chinese word for Tibet, xizang, means “western treasure house,” alluding to its vast natural, cultural and spiritual wealth. Official Chinese government statements often maintain that what takes place in Tibet is the "internal affairs" of the People's Republic of China. But, given its environmental significance, Tibet and the much greater geographical area encompassed by the Tibetan Plateau, is of global concern. Tibet, with its biological and cultural riches, now needs to be viewed as the “world’s treasure house.” Twelve-hundred years ago, with remarkable prescience, Tibetans viewed their homeland as the "Heart of the World." A 9th century Tibetan document found in the caves of the Buddhist center at Dunhuang, along the old Silk Road just north of the Tibetan Plateau, attests to the environmental significance Tibetans attributed to their homeland over one thousand years ago:

This center of heaven, This core of the earth, This heart of the world, Fenced round by snow, The headland of all rivers, Where the mountains are high and The land is pure. The world now needs to ensure that the treasures of the Tibetan environment remain healthy and continue to provide vital ecosystem services. Not only for the people living in Tibet but for hundreds of millions of people in adjoining areas whose lives are affected by what happens to the Tibetan environment. As a first step, by looking at images from space, we can try to better understand the geography and ecology of the Tibetan Plateau. We also need to acknowledge the hallowed nature of the Tibetan landscape and start to treat it with a little more reverence and respect. 8