Nomads, Yaks & Grasslands
- What threats are there to the grassland eco-system of the Tibetan plateau?
- Why are Tibetan nomads and their yaks being blamed for deteriorating grassland quality?
- What is the connection between nomads and yaks? And between yaks and the grasslands?
- What is the official Chinese policy on Tibetan nomads?
- Are Tibetan nomads happy with the current situation?
- Do the nomads have any say in policy concerning the land and the environment?
- What is the Chinese spin on newly created nature reserves and protected areas of the Tibetan plateau?
SNUFFING OUT THE NOMADS
Imagine that your hometown has been invaded by a military force that dictates all the resources—the water, the mining, all the natural resources—will be diverted for the exclusive use of the occupying power, and the military. Key resources will be exported back to far-away cities. Rare resources like uranium and lithium. And everything will be conducted in a language you don't understand—the language of the invaders.
Sounds like fiction? It is happening today in Tibet. But not only are Tibet's resources being shifted out, the Tibetan way of life is being snuffed out. Tibetan nomads, who for centuries have been at the heart of the traditional Tibetan economy through herding of yaks and cashmere goats, are being targeted for 're-settlement'. Across the Tibetan plateau, hundreds of thousands of nomads are being shifted off their traditional grassland habitat. 'Re-settlement' is little more than a euphemism for a kind of nomad genocide.
Slaughter of the Yaks
The following information is taken from a Human Rights Watch report, June 2007: No One Has the Liberty to Refuse: resettlement of Tibetan nomads. Based on this report, it would appear that Chinese authorities are deliberately targeting slaughter of yaks as a key method of depriving nomads of a sustainable living on the grasslands, since nomads are totally dependent on yaks for survival.
Most of those herders to whom Human Rights Watch spoke reported that the new policies stipulate a limit of five livestock per household member and require the rest of the livestock to be slaughtered or allowed to die. This compares with a usual holding in the region of anything up to a hundred or more yaks, sheep, and goats per household member. Other interviewees noted that they were allowed to keep 30 percent of their herds. One 29 year-old man, K.Y., explained: "The government sets a limit of cattle numbers per household member and if you exceed that limit, you have to kill off the extra.... The village leader comes to check, and there is no way that you could hide from him..."
 the amazing yak |
 pika poisoning |
mongolia's grasslands |