Organization encourages herdsmen to lead eco-friendly lifestyle

For years, Dondrub Chophel has spearheaded efforts to encourage herdsmen from communities in Yushu Tibetan autonomous prefecture, Qinghai province, to lead a zero plastic waste lifestyle.

The secretary-general of the Snowland Great Rivers Environmental Protection Association, a nongovernmental organization, said an eco-friendlier lifestyle for residents is the key to protecting the source of Asia's three longest rivers and the habitat of many endangered species.

"The best way to protect the fragile environment and ensure the water sources in the region are free from pollution is to guarantee that the local communities will not be generating garbage or pollutants that cannot be recycled," he explained.

Dondrub Chophel said he came up with the idea to promote a zero plastic waste lifestyle among the Tibetan communities years ago, after he and other volunteers tried painstakingly to recycle plastic waste at the core region of the Three-River-Source National Park — also known as Sanjiangyuan — only to find that the collection process would be endless if new garbage continued to be generated.

One challenge they faced in encouraging the herdsmen to refine their lifestyle was to persuade their children to stop consuming carbonated beverages.

He and other workers from the association have visited herdsmen's homes to explain the ingredients of the beverages, their potential effects on health and the negative impact plastics have on the environment.

The herdsmen, who generally harbor a sense of awe toward nature, have gladly accepted his promotion of a healthier lifestyle, he added.

Behind the organization's efforts in Sanjiangyuan is a growing level of official support for grassroots participation in ecological conservation in the area.

Dondrub Chophel's association has been working to encourage more local herdsmen to take part in the environmental protection efforts over the past 20 years, with over 1,000 volunteers now working to safeguard wildlife in Sanjiangyuan.

"More importantly, the local herdsmen have now benefited from the wide-ranging protection efforts," he said, explaining that the government has offered ranger jobs to residents at the national parks being developed.

There are also more ways for them to boost their incomes, including monitoring snow leopards and organizing cultural experiences and activities related to nature education.

"The better the people are able to protect vegetation, wildlife and biodiversity, the more chances they will have to increase their incomes and improve their living standards," Dondrub Chophel said.

With wildlife populations continuing to recover in the Three-River-Source National Park, he said enabling the harmonious coexistence between man and nature should be further explored in the near future.

"The lifestyle of local herdsmen had been integrated into the ecosystem for centuries, and we should encourage them to revive their eco-friendly lifestyle in the future," he said.