February 11, 2025: Asia Freedom Institute released a report entited China’s National Park Project on The Tibetan Plateau: Conservation or Assimilation? What China Can Learn From Other Countries. The statement accompanying the report said “China’s efforts to protect the landscape, rich biodiversity and environment of the Tibetan Plateau and mitigate climate change ought to be a positive development. However, there is serious concern that this ambitious initiative will lead to displacement of Tibetans, further assimilate Tibetans and Tibet into China, and will primarily benefit the Chinese community. The proposed national park system and drafting of the national parks law is moving ahead rapidly with no input and contribution from the Tibetan people who have lived on the Tibetan Plateau for centuries.”
Kelsang D. Aukatsang, AFI President, in the foreward to the paper says “A National Parks Law in China’s National People’s Congress is expected to become law in 2025. There is an opportunity for the Chinese leadership to reimagine their approach and use the establishment of the national parks system as a vehicle to both protect biodiversity and address the concerns of the Tibetan people…China too should consider the national parks on the Tibetan Plateau as autonomous areas where the control and management is in the hands of the Tibetan people – the true residents and stewards of the
land since antiquity.”
The report can be downloaded from the AFI website
