OTHER RELATED
ACTIVITIES
International Conferences and Consultancy Work
Plateau Perspectives staff members have participated in
a variety of international conferences:
Dr Marc Foggin will attend a
LEAD Canada training program from 10-15 August
2008, "Climate Change and Sustainable Cities."
Mr Gongbo Tashi attended the
Tallberg
Forum 2008, which was held in Tallberg,
Sweden, from 25 June - 29 June 2008. The Tallberg
Forum, supported by the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is an innovative
global meeting that brings together 450 leaders from all over the world and from
various sectors of society in order to promote a more equitable and secure world
for man and nature. The topic of discussion in 2008 will be "How on earth can we
live together?"
Mr Gongbo Tashi participated in a
2-week study tour to the USA in April 2008, hosted by the University of
Virginia, to learn about the potential of creating economic
opportunities for Tibetans through "geotourism" - tourism that is
culturally, economically and ecologically attentive to and beneficial to
local communities.
Dr Peter Foggin presented a
keynote
paper (with co-author Marc Foggin) at the
Canada-China Forum for Western Development and Socio-Economic Change,
which was held in Beijing on 27-28 March 2008. The conference was
organized by the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology (IEA), Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), and the University of British
Columbia (UBC), and co-sponsored by the Canadian Embassy in Beijing.
Mr Gongbo Tashi attended the
international conference
Range-wide Conservation Planning for Snow
Leopards in Beijing from 7-11 March 2008. Conference organizers
included the Panthera Foundation, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS),
Snow Leopard Trust (SLT), Snow Leopard Network (SLN) and the Chinese
Institute of Zoology.
Dr Marc Foggin was an
invited speaker for the inaugural seminar on environmental protection by
Bistandsnemnda (Norway), on the topic of "Environment and
Indigenous Peoples: The experience of Plateau Perspectives in
partnership with Tibetan herders." Seminar held in Oslo, Norway, 26
February 2008.
Dr Peter Foggin co-organized, and
presented a
paper on Plateau Perspectives' community health work at, the
Fifth International
Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS5): Sharing a Future in Asia, which
was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 2-5 August 2007.
Dr Fiona Worthy attended the 3rd
International Conference on Environmental Enhancement and Sustainable
Development held in Hohhot from 4-8 August 2006.
Dr Marc Foggin and Dr Charles Warren participated in the
planning workshop entitled Natural Resource Management in the Mountains of
Asia (NORMA) in Aviemore, Scotland, on April 18-20, 2005. The meeting was
jointly organized by the
Macaulay Institute,
International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and
Insight, as part of a
EC-funded project to determine local people's priorities for natural resource
management in the greater Tibetan Plateau and Himalayan region of Asia.
Mr Laurens Wester attended the Fourth International
Congress on Yak in Chengdu, Sichuan, on September 20-26, 2004. Co-sponsored
by the
FAO
Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific,
International Centre for
Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD),
International Livestock
Research Institute (ILRI),
Heifer Project
International China and several other organizations.
As speaker at the opening plenary session of the
International Symposium on Environmental Protection and
Sustainable Development in West China, Dr Marc Foggin presented the work of Plateau
Perspectives - with special emphasis on the role that can be played by local communities in
biodiversity conservation. Symposium held in Xian, Shaanxi, on May 21-23, 2004.
Sponsored by China's Association for Science & Technology.
Several Plateau Perspectives staff members participated in
the workshop entitled Biodiversity Conservation in Qinghai Province in
Xining, Qinghai, on June 25-29, 2001. Co-sponsored by the
Biodiversity Working Group
of the
China Council
of International Cooperation on Environment and Development (BWG/CCICED) and
Qinghai's Environmental Protection Bureau (Qinghai EPB). Plateau
Perspectives helped organize (together with BWG/CCICED), presented a paper and participated in these
cross-sectoral planning meetings. The BWG's
Fifth Report
of Phase Two includes a summary of recommendations that were subsequently
presented to
provincial authorities.
Marc Foggin was an Invited Speaker at the international
symposium Tibet's Biodiversity: Conservation & Management in Lhasa,
Tibet, in August 1998. Co-sponsored by
WWF China and the
Tibet Forest Bureau.
Plateau Perspectives staff members have equally provided
consultancy services or otherwise assisted several other international
organizations, including
Kunde Foundation,
Care & Share
Foundation,
Fauna &
Flora International,
WWF China and
Future Generations.
PRA & Participatory Video
(PV) Tools
Building on our long-term collaboration with the people of
Muqu village, participatory rural appraisal (PRA) was undertaken in 2004 to
more clearly define future needs and opportunities for local community development.
The main methodology used was "participatory video" whereby the local people
themselves create a video-story telling of their livelihood and environment, their
hopes and their dreams for the future. This mini-project, resulting in a unique
30 minute video, was led by Insight in cooperation with the
Macaulay Institute.
MEA Assessment: Invited Review
Dr Marc Foggin, Director of Plateau Perspectives, was invited by the editorial committee of the
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA)
to review the chapter on West China.
The MEA is a global assessment organized by the UN to study key ecosystems of
the world, ecosystem services, and their potential to contribute to human
well-being.
Tibetan
Conservation & Development Centre
Further discussion with local government leaders regarding
the establishment of a
Tibetan Conservation & Development Centre
in Zhiduo County – the gateway to the largest core zone of the
Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve – has shown that the purchase or
long-term lease of land to build the Conservation Centre should not pose any
significant problem. Plateau Perspectives is therefore now proceeding to raise
further funds for this key endeavour and to agree with local partners on the
main goals and objectives for the Conservation Centre. Main purposes will
include the provision good facilities for vocational training, environmental
education, applied conservation research and general project management.
[Read more...]
Emergency Relief and Social
Welfare
Plateau Perspectives sometimes has become involved in emergency relief as
well, for example after severe snowstorms. Several truckloads of food and fuel
were delivered to the people of Suojia township in December 1999, arriving
several months before larger relief supplies could be organized by more distant
government bureaus and international organizations.
On other occasions, Plateau Perspectives has also organized
child sponsorship, cleft palate surgery, cataract operations and various forms
of emergency medical assistance.
