Yangtze River Headwaters Sustainable Development Project

BACKGROUND

The biodiversity of the Tibetan Plateau constitutes a heritage of global significance that should be preserved for this and future generations. The high mountains, grasslands and wetlands near the source of the Yangtze River, with their abundant native wildlife and traditional livelihoods, are especially important. Tibetan Plateau grasslands comprise some of the most extensive open rangelands in Asia and are surrounded by many of the world’s highest mountains. Furthermore, the wetlands of southwest Qinghai Province (an enormous area known as Sanjiangyuan in Chinese, or the "Three Rivers Headwaters" in English, in reference to the source of the Yangtze, Yellow and Mekong rivers) are also of exceptional ecological value, serving as main regulator of the water flow in three major Asian rivers. Often called the “water tower” of Asia, the central part of the Tibetan Plateau is also home to many unique species of flora and fauna, from marsh sedges and numerous water birds to carnivores large and small, a unique assemblage of large herbivores, and special desert-adapted plant associations. Among the most endangered wildlife species are the Tibetan antelope, wild yak, argali, white-lipped deer, musk deer, and the elusive, almost mystical snow leopard.

The traditional livelihood of Tibetan people in the Yangtze River headwaters is pastoralism (livestock grazing), a form of resource use practised for thousands of years and well adapted to the natural conditions of the plateau. The most significant features of traditional Tibetan pastoralism are seasonal mobility and a flexible, adaptive management strategy that can respond effectively to variations in climatic and socio-economic conditions. It is important to preserve traditional ecological knowledge, which is disappearing rapidly with the older generation, as it is beneficial for animal husbandry as well as for traditional medicine and plant conservation. Altogether pastoralism as a way of life well suited to the local conditions is still practiced in the upper reaches of China’s longest waterway, the Yangtze River. Even in this remote corner of the planet, however, rapid changes are beginning.

The needs, the problems, the challenges faced in the headwaters are indeed enormous. From an environmental perspective, while a large region is now part of the recently established Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve, key challenges still remain in the delineation of management zones, training nature reserve staff, conducting wildlife research, and engaging local communities to co-manage the area’s natural resources. Even more difficult is the provision of social services for the sparse, highly dispersed population, one of the most inaccessible in the country. Basic education is almost non-existent, available income is relatively low, and community health (especially maternal and child health) is extremely poor. In the light of this, the government is seeking new ways to simultaneously protect the environment and improve people’s quality of life, yet international experience has shown that some of the proposed methods – such as moving people out of protected areas and efforts to sedentarize pastoralists – have rarely met with success. There is, however, a large body of good national policy and already approved plans upon which to build, as well as several good community initiatives already underway, that can be encouraged and further expanded. The Yangtze River Headwaters Sustainable Development Project aims to bring hope to the people and to increase local capacity to implement these initiatives.

[Read more...]

A new document provides additional background information on the project, and also gives an indication of future plans for conservation and community development in the project area. Right-click the icon to the left to download.

Promoting Biodiversity Conservation and Community Development in the Sanjiangyuan Region: Proceedings of a conservation planning meeting, with agreed priority action points. Biodiversity conservation planning meeting co-hosted by Plateau Perspectives, Upper Yangtze Organization, Government of Zhiduo County and the Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve Management Bureau. Held in Yushu, September 30 - October 13, 2005.