Four Great Rivers
Southeastern
Tibet has a “sea of forests” so vast that the region contains 1/7th of
all the timber reserves for China. The once rapid deforestation of the
region was banned to protect the upper watersheds for four of Asia’s
greatest rivers: the Yangtze, Salween, Mekong, and Brahmaputra. These
rivers serve 20 percent of humanity living in eight countries
downstream.
The Four Great Rivers protected area is huge. It is the size of
Washington State and home to 800,000 people. To protect such a large
area, each of the region’s 26 county governments implement a management
plan that engages locals as stewards. The new management approach is
low-cost and gives locals ownership of the conservation process. Future
Generations partners with the Tibet Department of Science and
Technology (TDST) and the David Suzuki Foundation to provide local and
professional level training in conservation management at the village,
county, and prefecture levels. On the ground, Future Generations and
the TDST have trained more than 400 local volunteers known as Pendebas
in primary health, animal husbandry, greenhouse contraction, and
non-timber forest resource products, to improve the daily lives of
people who live within the protected area.