Holding back the previous surge in desertification in Tibet

 

Tibet’s Six-year Sand Control Spans over 125,600 Hectares

Source : China Tibet Online

Author : Time : 06/10/2015

Editor : Tenzin Choedron

Since 2009, Tibet Autonomous Region has completed 125,600 hectares of desert control with a budget of 374 million yuan. It has had a significant effect on the region, holding back the previous surge in desertification.

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has one of most serious desertification problems in the world. Tibet has a very weak ecological environment and is plagued with desertification and soil erosion, due to the high altitudes, cold climate and lack of forest vegetation. Currently, Tibet has 43,269,800 hectares of desert land and 21,618,600 hectares of sandy land. Desertification is widespread in Tibet covering a large area and the state of governance is strict.

Since the 12th Five-year Plan (2011-2015), Tibet’s Forestry Department has laid out clear goals in relation to governance of desertification. Through policy, biological and structural measures they have carried out various control projects, such as implementation of an ecological security barrier to combat desertification, a special financial anti-desertification project, forest protection and others.

Read the full article: vtibet

 

Climate change is linked to social structures and gender

Photo credit: IWMI

Photo: Neil Palmer (CIAT)

International Women’s Day

Ganges women to bear the brunt of Climate Change

Poor women and vulnerable groups will “bear the brunt” of climate change in parts of India, Nepal and Bangladesh, according to a new report published by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

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The Ganges River Basin is already experiencing increases in unpredictable weather patterns, droughts, floods, cyclones and other natural disasters. However, scientists predict that average temperatures in the region will increase by around 0.4 °C over the next two decades, which could cause even greater environmental and social disruption.

This poses serious challenges to a region where the majority of its 655 million inhabitants rely directly on agriculture and access to natural resources for their livelihoods.

The report focuses on three key countries that depend on the Ganges River Basin: India, Nepal and Bangladesh. By reviewing extensive studies from the region, it argues that vulnerability to climate change is “intricately linked” to social structures such as gender, class, caste and ethnicity. It makes the case that those at the bottom of the social ladder have less power and fewer resources to adapt to the possible effects of climate change.

“This is the first time that such a broad range of studies has been brought together and analyzed as a whole,” said Fraser Sugden, Researcher – Social Science, IWMI, and lead author of the report. “The research results clearly show that women face considerable vulnerability to climate change and that this is also a complex process, with vulnerability being economic, social and psychological and shaped by intersecting divisions of class and caste. There is a need to rethink policies and methods of engagement with marginalized groups, so as to address the social structures which cause vulnerability in the first place.”

Read the full article: IWMI