Tibetan Resettlement. Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai, China. 2014
Tibetan Resettlement. Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai, China. 2014
One controversial aspect of the Chinese government’s stated efforts to address ecological degradation on the plateau is the resettlement of Tibetan nomads into “new socialist villages,” what officials call “comfortable housing.” The creation of the Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve dramatically altered the livelihoods of millions of people. In 2003, the Chinese government implemented the program tuimu huancao, meaning “retire livestock and restore grassland.” Since 2006, as many as 2 million people have been relocated in an effort to restore area grasslands and forests, a process the government calls “environmental migration.” This required some 300,000 Tibetan nomadic herders to give up their livestock in exchange for government housing and an annual stipend. Today, the vast majority of these nomads have lost their traditional lifestyle and many struggle to find jobs and acclimate to their new conditions. Tuimu huancao was introduced more than a decade ago in the name of environmental protection, but since then studies show that the government relocation efforts have more to do with economic policy directions than restoration or protection of the delicate ecosystem.
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Tibetan Resettlement. Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai, China. 2014
One controversial aspect of the Chinese government’s stated efforts to address ecological degradation on the plateau is the resettlement of Tibetan nomads into “new socialist villages,” what officials call “comfortable housing.” The creation of the Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve dramatically altered the livelihoods of millions of people. In 2003, the Chinese government implemented the program tuimu huancao, meaning “retire livestock and restore grassland.” Since 2006, as many as 2 million people have been relocated in an effort to restore area grasslands and forests, a process the government calls “environmental migration.” This required some 300,000 Tibetan nomadic herders to give up their livestock in exchange for government housing and an annual stipend. Today, the vast majority of these nomads have lost their traditional lifestyle and many struggle to find jobs and acclimate to their new conditions. Tuimu huancao was introduced more than a decade ago in the name of environmental protection, but since then studies show that the government relocation efforts have more to do with economic policy directions than restoration or protection of the delicate ecosystem.