Pendeba-meeting [Photo/ pendeba.org]

Pendeba means "Worker who benefits the village" in the Tibetan language. The earlier Pendeba Program was developed in response to the growing need for local participation in the protection of the Qomolangma National Nature Preserve (QNNP), and extended to the four river basins (including Jinshajiang River, Lancang River, Nujiang River and Yarlung Zangbo River). The program was part of a new approach to lead local inhabitants to participate the integral development of community. Through the training in the practical skills of environmental protection, primary healthcare, and income generation, the villagers could find an affordable mode of development in response to environmental, health and economic challenges.

In 1994, the Mount Qomolangma Nature Reserve was upgrade to a national nature preserve, with a protected area of 33,000 square kilometers, an average elevation of 4200 meters, 89,000 inhabitants. The QNNP is one of the diverse nature reserves with the most biodiversity. According to preliminary statistics, there are 2300 species of higher plants, over 270 kinds of animals, including 33 national key protected animals. in the same year, the Pendeba Society's Program was started in the protected areas.

Pendeba-Training-Site [Photo/ pendeba.org]

The main purport of this project is to explore a parallel path for the environmental protection and economic development. On the basis of eco-environment preservation, the local economy could be developed and the standard of living of local people could be improved. The inhabitants would be the main body of the environmental protection and participators of the management of nature reserves.

In order to achieve this goal, a model of "Three-Way Partnership" mobilizes the community to participate in the development of the protected area. Three-way partnership involves "bottom-up" initiative from communities, "top-down" support from government agencies, and "outside-in" training and support from organizations. This management model is very effective in local areas and it has been promoted in other nature reserves in Tibet. At present, there are more than 1000 Pendebas (locally elected villagers who are trained) in Tibetan villages.

Pendebas gather for skills training in ecotourism. [Photo/ pendeba.org]

According to Lei Guangchun, Dean of the Nature Reserve School of Beijing Forestry University, the local community and the governing body of the QNNP now have establish good co-administration relationships. Under joint efforts, 80% of the villages in the protected areas have had basic medical insurance, child mortality rate has declined by 50%, and the artificial immunization rate has increased to 90%. At the same time, hunting wild animals has been prohibited, and the number of endangered species, including snow leopard, Tibetan antelope, red goral and argali, etc., has increased. Schools have been introduced in the main villages of the protected areas, and 500,000 trees have been planted.

The effective way of environmental protection and economic development explored by the Pendeba Society's Program has raised concern in domestic and foreign areas. In 1998, it was list in the "top 50 sustainable development projects in world" by the United Nations. In 2011, it won the first prize in the Ford Environmental Protection.