Environmental Protection -Tibetan Medical & Astro Institute, Westtibet

Sanitation

Until the early 1980s West Tibet's population virtually consisted of self-sustaining nomads only. Since that time a rapid development has taken place, with radical changes in lifestyle. Larger settlements are developing. Modern consumer goods and technologies are finding their way to the area. Thereby previously unknown environmental problems are occurring, such as the increasing accumulation of non-degradable urban waste.

"Keep Clean Mt. Kailash" Campaign

Performed measures and actions:

Construction of public toilets and waste collection in the village Darchen
Construction of toilets and waste collection points at the monasteries around Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar
Organisation of environmental conferences with representatives from politics, tourism, military and police
Establishment of an eight-member working group for environmental protection in the Kailash area
Semi-annual "Keep Clean Mt Kailash" campaigns by the students of the Tibetan Medical School Mt Kailash, to remove waste from the tracks around Mount Kailash
Implementation of two environmental studies in 1996 and 2004
Localization of a suitable waste dump

Internal Environmental Education

The students at the Tibetan Medical School Mt. Kailash are sensitized to the problems of environmental protection and educated to a responsible contact with nature. The aim is to ensure that students, after completion of their studies and return to their home villages as doctors, transmit there the environment protection thoughts.

Environmental Protection Concept

The leaders of Kailashprojekte develop, jointly with the authorities, monasteries, tourism industry and local population, an environmental protection concept covering

Information and education
Provision of infrastructure
Organization of a maintenance and inspection service
Provision of financial resources

The concept includes the following topics:

Waste disposal
Excrement disposal
Water usage
Energy supply
Tourism

For more information see „Umweltschutz in der Kailashregion - Eine Situtationsanalyse" (german)

Protection Area for the Kailash Region

Why is the Kailashregion is worth a protection?

Exceptionally beautiful landscape
Worldwide unique pilgrimage center
Headwaters of four major rivers, Brahmaputra, Karnali, Sutlej and Indus, which supply a large part of the Asian continent with water
Species-rich flora and fauna

What are the objectives to be achieved with a protection area?

Conservation of natural habitats and symbiotic communities
Preservation of cultural and historical identity
Promotion of a locally adapted economic development

The Kailashprojekte aim is to establish a protection area for the entire Kailash region to preserve it in its uniqueness, where mythology, religion and culture become one with the inherent natural beauty.

For more information see „Umweltschutz in der Kailashregion - Eine Situtationsanalyse" (german).