Public-interest prosecutions help keep plateau pristine

Hundreds of kilometers east in Dingri county, Shigatse, similar tensions surround Mount Qomolangma, commonly known as Mount Everest.

During a 2024 inspection, prosecutors spotted a single set of tire tracks cutting across alpine grassland at an elevation of more than 5,300 meters.

A paved road ran close by, yet vehicles had driven directly over the vegetation.

He Kun, deputy chief procurator of the Dingri County People's Procuratorate, said that in such a fragile environment, it was impossible to predict how long the damaged grassland would take to recover naturally.

Prosecutors recommended that the local culture and tourism authority block vehicle access. The entrance was closed within two months, and later inspections found that vehicles were no longer entering the grassland.

The tire tracks, however, pointed to a much broader question confronting Dingri as visitor numbers rise.

Located at the foot of the Himalayas and bordering Nepal, the county lies at the heart of the Mount Qomolangma National Nature Reserve, a place home to four peaks exceeding 8,000 meters, including Lhotse, Cho Oyu and Makalu.

Tourism has become a pillar of the local economy and an important source of income for residents, He said. But its rapid growth has also placed greater demands on sanitation, safety, infrastructure and environmental management.

In April 2024, prosecutors from Shigatse and Dingri formed a joint team to inspect viewing platforms, the Qomolangma Base Camp area and other stops along major tourist routes.

Their findings revealed widespread compliance failures, such as delayed garbage removal, inadequate medical support, damaged surveillance equipment, 59 tent hotels operating without health or food permits, and 49 unregistered businesses.

Problems were also found in tourist information management, drone flights and the supervision of scenic-area and shuttle-bus tickets.

Rather than treating these as isolated infractions, the Dingri procuratorate opened a series of administrative public-interest litigation cases targeting multiple agencies, including culture and tourism, taxation, market regulation and public security.

The multi-agency push yielded fast results. Market regulators enforced tent hotel permits; tax authorities registered businesses and built an online tax service station in Tashizom township; public security repaired surveillance systems and tightened guest registration; and tourism officials overhauled safety and sanitation protocols.

He said later inspections showed improvements in both environmental conditions and tourism management.

For prosecutors stationed in these remote outposts, public-interest litigation is less about handing down penalties and more about closing regulatory gaps before ecological damage becomes permanent.

That often requires prosecutors to go far beyond offices and courtrooms.

Tsamchung recalled one winter inspection near a glacier when her team's vehicle became trapped in snow and ice. With no food or water, they waited until after midnight before rescuers reached them.

Such trips are demanding, she said, but the landscape they are trying to protect leaves little room for delayed action.

"As long as we can protect Asia's 'water tower' and see the ecological environment here getting better day by day, everything we have done is worthwhile," she said.

yangzekun@chinadaily.com.cn