Update 21st March 2012: over 3500 paper signatures collected so far! Keep signing online - let's make this petition's impact big!
Update 5th January 2012: additional 750 paper signatures collected so far!
Nomads for Planetary Third Pole
This
Tibetan Women's Association and
Tibet Third Pole petition appeals to the Ministry of Environment Protection of The People's Republic of China to halt the forced removal of nomads from Tibet's pastureland since this is not a climate mitigation measure but rather a disastrous environmental policy that threatens the survival of the eleven downstream countries.
We also alert the Ministry of Environment of Ten Downstream Nations dependent on Tibet's rivers (India, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal) to the urgency of this issue and beseech that immediate pressure is put upon the PRC government to cease current policies of forced and coerced displacement.
We demand responsible management of Tibet's fragile environment that respects the human rights of its people and the rights of those in the Ten downstream nations affected by Tibet's environment.
We the undersigned appeal to you to halt the forced removal of nomads in acknowledgement that removing nomads from Tibet's pastureland is not a climate mitigation measure but is in-fact a disastrous 'environmental policy.'
Scientists have established Tibet as the planetary 'Third Pole.' It has the largest reservoir of fresh water besides the two poles (Arctic and Antarctica), and is home to more than 46,000 glaciers, and thereby is Asia's water tower. Tibet Third Pole is the head region of Asia's ten major rivers feeding 1.3 billion lives in eleven downstream nations (including China.) Major rivers which originate from Tibet are Mekong, Yangtze and Salween from East, Brahmaputra from Central and Kamali, Indus & Sutlej from west.
Recent research has indicated that Tibetan plateau is a major driver of Asia's monsoon season.
China’s experimental policies of forcibly removing nomads from grassland, unchecked mining and big damming projects are threatening Tibet's fragile ecosystem.
In the age of Climate change, the Earth's Third Pole's environment is under threat and in response the Chinese Government is implementing its 'environmental policy' of uprooting 2.25 million Tibetan nomads from Tibet’s grasslands.
This comes in stark contrast to the nomads' traditional ecosystem knowledge and millennia of sustainable stewardship of Tibet’s grassland ecosystems, and despite scientific evidence that shows the nomads’ positive role in promoting ecosystem abundance, diversity, and resilience.
The eviction of nomads from the Tibetan plateau exacerbates the very sustainability of Tibet’s fragile environmental balance. Consequently, grassland will get reduced to desert and thereby endanger the biodiversity of Tibetan plateau.
We trust you will take urgent action on this crucial environmental campaign and we will follow up with you at Rio during the RIO + 20, UNCSD (June 2012) and at Qatar during the UNFCCC, COP-18 summit (December 2012). Thank you for your kind attention.
