Tibetan Sacred Lands: A Values-Based Approach to Conservation

Tibetan prayer flags mark sacred land at Phags Mo Gling Lamasary in Sichuan Province
Photo courtesy of Kristin Tracz.

For most people, images of prayer flags blowing in the wind, intricately decorated monasteries, and nomads riding across open grasslands do not immediately bring to mind national parks and bird watching. But as Deghe, a middle-aged lama at the Tibetan Phags Mo Gling Lamasary in China’s western Sichuan Province, explains, “conservation is a monk’s work, it is in our religion.” Using the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism as guidance and supported by a multi-year project of the U.S.-based group Conservation International (CI), Deghe and his fellow lamas are transforming their lamasery into a hub of conservation and environmental education.

“Tibetan culture and Buddhism emphasize a reverence for life and nature,” says Li Shengzhi, head of the field unit of CI’s China Program. “Traditionally, every Tibetan village and monastery has designated its own sacred sites—nearby mountains, lakes, forests, and rivers—where wildlife and land are protected.” Through its Sacred Lands project, CI is trying to show that these values-based approaches to land management have real conservation outcomes. “There is a large network of land that is being protected by this system of sacred lands,” Li notes.

CI estimates that more than one-quarter of the territory of China’s Tibetan counties—which span 120 million hectares over the five provinces of Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Tibet Autonomous Region—falls into the “sacred lands” category. Roughly four-fifths of these sites enjoy some degree of protection under Tibetan management practices, and one-fifth of all monasteries have effective mechanisms for protecting sacred sites from hunting and for regulating herb collection, according to Li.

At Phags Mo Gling Lamasary, more than half of the land area—an entire mountain—is designated sacred. Located at over 4,000 meters above sea level in the foothills of the Himalayas, the 900-year-old lamasary is managed using a multifaceted approach. Lamas regularly survey the land by walking a network of footpaths lined with prayer flags and other offerings. They conduct trail maintenance and monitor bird diversity, floral health, and soil composition, among other activities. Working with CI and its partner, the Yajiang Forestry Bureau, the lamas have also developed a bird guide and regularly lead tourists on bird-watching treks through a series of trails on the sacred mountain.

In addition to educating tourists, the lamasery inspires faith-based conservation among nearby residents by taking advantage of regular religious festivals, which can bring hundreds of people to the temple grounds at a time. At a recent such gathering of more than 600 devotees, the lamas took up the issue of animal poaching. “Many hunters are waiting for the government to compensate them before they abandon poaching,” Deghe explains. “We argue that as Buddhists, we ought not to kill. So we tell people that regardless of whether they get aid from the government, they should voluntarily give up hunting.”

CI staff person Li Shengzhi rests with Deghe along the trailon the Phags Mo Gling Lamasary's sacred mountain. The lamas are working with CI and Local partners to develop the conservation of ethic of visitors, as well as to gather data on the region's biodiversity.
Photo courtesy of Lila Buckley.

Deghe observes that from a religious perspective, hunting is not only a violation of the “no kill” precept, it also creates material greed, the most fundamental cause of human suffering in Buddhist theology. “Most people who hunt in this area already have enough to live on without killing the animals,” he notes. “They hunt to supplement what is already enough, and end up always wanting more.” This approach is effective in getting many people to change their ways and adopt environmental ethics, Deghe says, but much more can be done. “We would like to work with the county government and CI to set up a conservation school in the nearby village, so that children can learn about these values before they even begin hunting.”

CI has developed a comprehensive plan for supporting and developing the traditional Tibetan approach to conservation. The plan involves scientific surveys, promotional materials, financial awards and grants, as well as collaboration with officials from local governments, nature reserves, and NGOs. At Phags Mo Gling Lamasary and other communities, the organization is conducting species surveys, in-depth mapping, and oral interviews. This research is being added to a database that aims to build understanding of the state of Tibetan sacred lands and to identify concrete levels of biodiversity protection of affected species for more effective interventions and management.

Through its research, CI has identified numerous examples of written and oral agreements between local residents and officials for land and wildlife management. Researchers have also gathered evidence of a quantifiable increase in both the diversity and abundance of birds on sacred lands when compared with surrounding regions.

CI is building awareness and support for particularly effective sacred sites through grants to local communities. In the past year, its Community Conservation Fund awarded 14 grants to Tibetan communities for projects ranging from community-based research on wetland conservation and Tibetan herbal medicines, to environmental education and the development of curricula that integrate traditional Tibetan conservation concepts. “We give these grants because we believe that people will support conservation if the benefits outweigh the costs, and if they have the option to do so,” explains Li.” The grants promote scientific research and provide support for collaboration among stakeholders.

CI publicizes the effectiveness of these projects via workshops, conferences, and outreach materials aimed at government leaders and the general Chinese public.

By carefully documenting and promoting the conservation value of Tibetan sacred lands, the group is also helping Chinese leaders recognize the benefits of local involvement in national conservation efforts. “Although the government takes conservation seriously, many of China’s nature reserves lack effective management and adequate staffing,” Li explains. By including local residents, this allows for more frequent surveillance of a wider area at relatively low cost. It also improves conservation awareness and makes necessary interventions much easier, he notes.

Little by little, these views are making their way into policy. Evidence from CI's investigations helped influence the People’s Congress, China’s parliament, to recognize and integrate “community conservation areas” as legitimate forms of land management in both natural resource legislation and regulations for nature reserves.

Such legislation is only the beginning. As of now, the Chinese government does not legally recognize Tibetan conservation approaches. Li Shengzi notes that the national government calls for enhancing public participation in conservation, but says that implementation of this concept is lagging. “We need projects to demonstrate and integrate this national policy into local conservation practices—especially in Western China,” he says.

Young Lamas examine the bird-watching guide and trail map of the sacred land at Phags Mo Gling Lamasary. Sacred lands protect species biodiversity and can be powerful tools for conservation.
Photo courtesy of Kristin Tracz.

But CI is actively working with local governments and partners to promote Tibetan cultural values as an important tool to effectively manage threatened land. They have successfully worked with county-level officials in Sichuan’s Muli County to establish two county-level “sacred mountain” nature reserves—Qialangduoji and Badengnamu—that are managed using traditional Tibetan conservation methodology. Their status as reserves allows the sites to receive funding and technical support from the county government. If upgraded to provincial-level reserves, they could receive up to half a million dollars for improved conservation management.

CI also works directly with local communities to improve the quality of the conservation efforts. The organization has built a network of stakeholders that includes local NGOs such as Green Khampa and the Snowland Great Rivers Environmental Protection Association, government offices such as the Ganzi Forest Bureau, and academic institutions such as Beijing University, as well as local communities and media representatives. CI is collaborating with these groups to establish quantifiable targets for conservation, such as tracking species loss or recovery and ecosystem change. The organization is also training Tibetan communities to create video documentaries detailing personal stories of their relationship to the land.

“A key aspect of CI’s strategy is to build the capacity of residents in remote communities…to effectively manage and monitor their natural resources and empower them to participate in decision-making,” Li explains. “The highlight of this project is to bring the community, government, and NGOs together to achieve conservation.” By recognizing and strengthening Tibetan approaches to conservation, CI’s Sacred Land project aims to legitimize traditional forms of livelihood and to give local people sustainable options for improving their lives. It is part of a recent trend toward participatory development in China that, if carefully implemented, may help to relieve some of the tensions that are building in an increasingly unequal society.

Lila Buckley is assistant executive director of the Global Environmental Institute, a Worldwatch affiliate based in Beijing. Outside contributions to China Watch reflect the views of the author and are not necessarily the views of the Worldwatch Institute.