TIBET: CLIMATE CHANGE, GREEN ENERGY, MINING, POACHING, AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 CHENGDU 000247 SENSITIVE SIPDIS EAP FOR OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS AGRICULTURE FOR USDA FOREST SERVICE WO/IP/TECHCOOP/ASIA INTERIOR FOR FWS INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV KGHG ENRG EMIN EAGR CH SUBJECT: TIBET: CLIMATE CHANGE, GREEN ENERGY, MINING, POACHING, AND ORGANIC FARMING REF: CHENGDU 162 CHENGDU 00000247 001.2 OF 004 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Climate change is moving faster in Tibet than in other areas of China, and fastest at the highest elevations, leading the State Council to pass an ambitious plan for ecological protection earlier this year, Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) officials told us October 22 in Lhasa. Glaciers are retreating and the climate is becoming drier in most areas. Yields of Tibetan medicinal plants are declining as a result. The TAR is pushing solar technology for disconnected "island" electric grids and portable cooking solutions for herders, and is searching for bacteria that can produce methane for fuel above 5,100 meters. Hydro and geothermal remain areas of great potential for TAR alternative energy sources. Officials emphasized strict controls on mining in the TAR, and claimed poaching of endangered species was not a problem. Numerous greenhouses now provide abundant produce, but this may be of more benefit to Han than Tibetans in the TAR. End Summary. Plans for Protecting Earth's "Third Pole" -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The TAR, sometimes called Earth's "third pole" for its vast freshwater ice reserves, encompasses an area of 1.25 million square kilometers -- of which 34.4 percent is included in 45 protected environmental areas, Dr. Zhang Yongze, Director General of the TAR Environmental Protection Bureau told Consul General and PolEconOffs October 22 in Lhasa. Earlier this year, the State Council passed the Tibet Ecological Security Barrier Protection and Construction Program, budgeting RMB 15.5 billion (USD 2.26 billion) for its implementation over the next 25 years. This year, the TAR will allocate RMB 200 million in grassland ecological conservation and launch pilot projects in five counties, he said. ¶3. (SBU) Air pollution in TAR cities is very low and they enjoy excellent air quality 350 days per year, Zhang continued, though sand and dust are sometimes problems. The number of sandstorms in TAR cities has decreased thanks to tree planting programs, with 34 fewer "sandstorm days" per year in Shigatse and 32 days fewer in Lhasa than 30 years ago. The TAR is also making advances in sewage treatment using biochemical methods and a treatment plant is planned for Lhasa. CG recommended TAR officials consider U.S. firms already doing work in SW China, such as Western Water Group (reftel). Climate Change: Glaciers, Rainfall, Tibetan Medicine -------------- -------------- ¶4. (SBU) "Global warming is controversial and difficult to grasp, but it is real," Zhang declared. The TAR is affected more by global warming and the melting of glaciers than other part of China, especially in the high Himalayas. Glaciers in the Mt. Qomolangma (Everest) area are retreating by 10-15 meters per year, and Tibet's glaciers in general have receded 196 square km over the past 40 years. The climate is getting drier in general, although in some places it is actually becoming more moist. Lhasa's rainfall, for example, has been increasing in recent years. Over the long term, however, global warming will reduce fresh water availability as glaciers melt, though in the short term most lakes in the TAR are getting bigger as water levels rise from melt-off, Zhang said. ¶5. (SBU) In a subsequent meeting, Director of the TAR Science and Technology (S&T) Bureau Ma Shengjie said climate change is of special concern for Tibetan medicine, as many of the 200 varieties of plants used in traditional Tibetan medicine grow at high altitudes where climate change is reducing crops yields. Plentiful rains in 2008 also led to an abundance of caterpillar grass (chongcao),which is collected for use in traditional CHENGDU 00000247 002.2 OF 004 medicine by rural Tibetans, and a precipitous drop in the price as supply outran demand. The TAR government is cooperating with the Chinese Weather Bureau and the Chinese Academy of Sciences to conduct research on how to reduce effects of climate change on the plateau, he said. Desertification, Soil Erosion -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Desertification is occurring mainly in the TAR in the "one big river, two small rivers" area (yijiang lianghe),where the Yarlung Tsangpo, Lhasa, and Nanchu Rivers run near one another, Zhang said. Tree planting programs began in the late 1980s. (Note: ConOffs noted numerous sand dunes piling up on hills between Lhasa and the airport 28 miles away. An ethnic Tibetan Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) official accompanying us, however, said she remembered encountering these sands in 1995 while mountain climbing. End Note.) ¶7. (SBU) Soil erosion is also quite serious in the TAR, Zhang continued, particularly in the eastern and southeastern areas of the TAR and along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, where clear cutting of forests was previously allowed. Illegal logging was stopped and forests are starting to grow back nicely. Ma added that building earthen dams along major rivers is part of the first phase of an anti-erosion program included under the State Council's environmental plan for the TAR. Solar Power: "Island" Arrays and Foldable Cookers -------------- -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Since 2007 the TAR has spent RMB 5.43 million (USD 795,000) on clean energy development in rural areas, Zhang reported, including promoting solar cookers, solar water heaters, and wind power generation facilities. Ma added considerable detail, explaining that alternative energy sources are important in the TAR due to its large territory and relatively sparse population. Some of the electric power grids are not interconnected and alternative energy systems are important for these "island" grids. Zhang claimed the TAR has greater strength and consistency in solar illumination than anywhere but the Sahara Desert, and has great expanses of unused land that have potential to be exploited as solar farms. Particularly in remote rural areas, solar arrays of 30-100 panels can make separate grids economically viable and avoid high interconnection costs, Ma said. ¶9. (SBU) Foldable solar cookers that can be carried on the back of a yak are provided free to TAR farmers and herders, he continued, and solar water heaters are widely used in the TAR. (Note: The S&T Bureau building itself had a large solar array by the entrance and a solar thermal heating system on the roof. End Note.) Wind power is less reliable in the TAR, although tests are being conducted on small wind turbines that adjust to the direction of the wind, Ma added. Methane: Seeking High-Altitude Bacteria -------------- ¶10. (SBU) The TAR plans to add service to 20,000 households from stand-alone methane gas systems. A single system that requires only eight square meter of space can replace two truckloads of wood fuel per year, Ma reported. The systems cost some RMB 3,000 (USD 440) for materials, of which RMB 2,800 (USD 410) is CHENGDU 00000247 003.2 OF 004 subsidized by the government. The bacteria on which these systems rely, however, do not work well above an altitude of 5,100 meters, so the S&T Bureau is researching new varieties of bacteria that can operate at these heights. Preliminary results are positive, he said. Potential Power Sources: Hydro and Geothermal -------------- ¶11. (SBU) The TAR has rich hydropower potential, but it will be costly and time consuming to develop. Russia has many hydropower stations, Ma said, but "no environmental damage." The TAR also has a plan to implement a program called "sending Tibetan electric power outside the region" (Zang dian wai song), and while he did not elaborate further, a recent press report suggests that power produced on the plateau could be sent to Yunnan and Sichuan. ¶12. (SBU) Geothermal power is another area of great potential due to the TAR's active geology, but is yet to be exploited, Ma said. The TAR has many hot springs and even hot rivers, some of which have been developed for tourism. 75 miles east of Lhasa is a hot spring excellent for tourism, Ma said, even better than Japan's famed Sanko, which he has visited. (Note: China's official media published a story last year saying that a thermal power plant in Yangba, 54 miles north of Lhasa, had already begun producing power for transmission to the city. End Note.) Mining: "Strictly Controlled" in the TAR -------------- ¶13. (SBU) Restrictions on mining and prospecting in the TAR are stricter than in other parts of the PRC, Zhang stated. TAR regulations prevent smaller companies from operating there, though larger mining operations are allowed. In recent years, however, fewer permits have been granted for new mining projects. Permission is required for prospecting in the TAR, although not in other parts of the PRC. Gold mining was stopped in the TAR in 2006 due to environmental concerns, he said, and river panning for gold was stopped in 2008. (Note: Post believes the Xizang Tianlu company still conducts gold mining in the TAR, while a May 2009 Radio Free Asia report described a confrontation at the site of a recently authorized gold mine near Lhasa. A 2005 PRC press report on gold mining in the TAR described large areas of grassland damaged by trucks and open pit mining, trash, and pollution of the local water supply (URL tinyurl.com/goldmining-tibet). Local people were not benefitting, and large numbers of outsiders at gold mines was seen as a source of social disorder and resentment. End Note.) CITES: Poaching? What Poaching? -------------- ¶14. (SBU) Asked about the status of efforts to stop poaching of chiru or Tibetan antelope, prized for their fur used to make shahtoosh (the world's priciest wool),Zhang said the TAR government had imposed a hunting ban. Joint inter-provincial enforcement patrols between the TAR and Qinghai Province have been so successful, he continued, that there have been no arrests for illegal hunting in recent years. We asked why if there is no poaching can shawls woven from shahtoosh -- banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES),to which China is a party -- still be found for sale illegally in India? Further, what of news reports (including in the Hong Kong press) that negotiations between India and China over efforts to protect India's tigers had CHENGDU 00000247 004.2 OF 004 broken down when PRC officials demanded a quid pro quo on sale of shahtoosh in India? Zhang reiterated China's "strong protections" for the chiru and other endangered animals, claiming no knowledge of such negotiations. Sinicization Side Effect: Fresh Veggies -------------- ¶15. (SBU) The TAR is now self-sufficient in vegetable production thanks to greenhouses, Ma said proudly. Before 1990, no vegetables were grown except for carrots, potatoes, and lettuce. The S&T Bureau is now training some greenhouse farmers to grow to organic produce standards, and the prospects for the TAR to become a source of organic vegetables for all of China via the Qinghai-Tibet railway are excellent, Ma said. Separately, Zhang said 860,000 square meters of vegetable greenhouses had been set up with an annual output more than 3400 metric tons. (Comment: Post's ethnic Tibetan LES said the diet of Lhasa's Tibetans has not changed substantially with the advent of fresh produce; rather, these vegetables feed the city's burgeoning Han population. Post also finds Ma's comments on the TAR providing organic produced for all of China optimistic given long transport distances. End Comment.) BROWN