By Renato Palmi,
Phayul Reporter
Durban, South Africa – Once again, the indigenous communities of the Tibetan Plateau have had their voice and concerns silenced. There will be no Tibetans at the World Parks Congress (WPC) which opens in Durban, South Africa on 8 September 2003.
A large contingent of delegates from the People’s Republic of China will make up the estimated 2500 delegates permitted to attend this once-a-decade congress. With total impunity, they will network in the corridors and at the various sub-fora to win over hearts and minds of influential contacts. They will host elaborate dinners and dispense lavish gifts to selected powerful guests in order to prevent any condemnation of their illegal occupation and colonisation of Tibet, and to ensure that there is no criticism at the WPC of the PRC’s wanton destruction of Tibet’s natural environment.
Due to a lack of finance and international support, the Tibet Government-in-exile’s Environmental Desk has been prevented from using the World Parks Conference to express its opposition to the PRC’s claim that China’s activities inside Tibet are “… for the betterment of a backward people.”
Besides, if the opportunity had arisen for representation by members of the Tibetan government-in-exile, the PRC would have used all its political weight to deter such representation, as they did in Gauteng at the 2002 World Congress on Sustainability and Development (WSSD).
The theme of the Congress is “Benefits Beyond Boundaries”. Its website states that: “…the theme reinforces the meeting’s focus on addressing people’s needs and providing a stream of economic, political and environmental benefits to societies worldwide.” As has become commonplace, Tibet simply never succeeds in finding its place in the definition of “worldwide”.
In a press release dated 11 August 2003, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) – which is hosting the WPC – stated, “…the Congress will present the best – both latest and traditional – knowledge on protected areas and biodiversity conservation.”
The Tibetans have, over a millennium, perfected their ecological code. Unlike Western societies, which sought to tame the “wild”; because of their Buddhist faith, Tibetans have lived in harmony with the “wild”. In fact, the word “environment” as it is understood today does not exist in the Tibetan language. In the Tibetan worldview, the natural environment was never conceived of as a separate entity from human life. Tibetans have much indigenous knowledge of the natural world to offer, yet their voice, expertise and concern for their homeland cannot be shared because there is no global awareness or recognition of their quest for freedom.
Environmental and human rights clearly converge when the protection of sacred natural sites is indicated. Across the world, many indigenous peoples stake their claim in this regard, but sadly, when it comes to the protection of Tibetan sacred sites, it seems that world environmental bodies, including those operating under the auspices of the United Nations, cannot accommodate the pleas of Tibetans for the preservation of their awesome heritage. It is a clear violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for the Tibetans’ freedom to express opinions, exchange information, associate with others and participate in decision-making at international fora such as the WPC to be denied.
The continual exclusion of the Tibet government-in-exile from being heard makes a mockery of the words of Yolanda Kakabadse, the IUCN President, when she said, ” …the IUCN programme is based on the belief that social groups have different needs, interests, rights to and responsibilities over resources. It is therefore designed to balance differences in tenure, power, knowledge and decisions.” When it comes to Tibet, there is no balance of differences between Tibetans and their Chinese colonists.
The Tibetan Plateau, with its vast variety of species and its geographical position, influences the health and wellbeing of the entire planet. For the past 50 years, China has exploited the fragile Tibetan environment for commercial gain, with no concern for the consequences of such unchecked destruction. Today Tibet is facing a range of environmental crises which will be felt far beyond the country’s borders.
Those concerned for the survival of Tibet can only hope that at the World Parks Congress, delegates like actor Harrison Ford – an outspoken supporter of the exiled Tibetan leader, the 14th Dalai Lama and the Tibetan cause – will be given an opportunity to speak about the lack of Tibetan representation at the Congress.
No doubt, Ford will also advocate for the Dalai Lama’s 1987 Five-Point Peace Plan for Tibet, in which it was proposed that Tibet be transformed into a “Zone of Peace”. Point Four of that document called for “… the restoration and protection of Tibet’s natural environment.” Sixteen years later, the devastation continues…
Renato Palmi can be contacted at yakshack@iafrica.com
