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The Role of Tibetan Buddhism in Environmental Conservation Under Changing Socio-Economic Conditions in China

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The Role of Tibetan Buddhism in Environmental Conservation Under Changing Socio-Economic Conditions in China The role of Tibetan Buddhism in environmental conservation under changing socio-economic conditions in China Emily Woodhouse Imperial College London Centre for Environmental Policy & Department of Life Sciences A dissertation submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Imperial College London 2012 Abstract The failure of and conflict related to environmental conservation projects can be partly attributed to the lack of attention paid to the social and cultural systems of the people involved. Combining social and ecological methods, and a case study in Daocheng (Tibetan: Dabpa) County, Sichuan Province, this thesis explores how Tibetan Buddhism shapes human relations with the natural environment in the context of social and economic changes under the economically liberalised Chinese state. Using interviews and participant observation, I find Tibetans to be orientating themselves towards the environment by means of local cosmology incorporating gods and spirits in the landscape, ideas of karma, and Buddhist moral precepts. I question the concept of the sacred by highlighting differential ritual attention paid towards local gods, and their uncertain boundaries. Using the concept of authority, I explore how religion, the state, and economic markets are shaping relationships with the environment. Ritual authority lent weight to understandings of local gods, and politicised environmentalist discourse transported through global connections was beginning to give new meaning to the environment. State environmental regulations were reinforced by alignment with religious norms and monastic involvement in forest protection, although there were contested ideas regarding state tree planting policies. The booming trade in caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) has exacerbated resource conflict, and changed consumption patterns and norms on sacred land. Using quantitative recall data from households, I explore access to provisioning ecosystem services contrasting subsistence and market based products. Access was structured according to wealth indicating community heterogeneity, although there was high dependence on caterpillar fungus for livelihoods across all households. Direct use surveys of firewood collection show that representations of local gods did not consistently translate into spatially defined areas of non- extraction, and instead illustrate the dynamic nature of sacred sites interacting with social and political systems through history. I set the case study in its wider geographical and policy context to show that sacred sites exist across Daocheng, but have different histories and ecological constitutions. The wider perspective demonstrates the issue of scale in environmental studies, and the need for conservation interventions that span levels of governance. I reflect on the implications of the research on conservation, highlighting the value of anthropological research for nuanced, collaborative and locally appropriate practice, and I lastly explore opportunities for future work in Daocheng. i Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the support and friendship of a great number of people. Firstly, I would like to thank my wonderful supervisors: E.J. Milner-Gulland for insightful and speedy comments, and constant enthusiasm from beginning to end; Martin Mills for helping me to find my inner anthropologist and his generous help and guidance; and Philip McGowan for thoughtful and open-minded suggestions, and for listening to my worries. Advisors Clive Potter and Steven Wolf on my progress review panel also gave helpful feedback. In China, thanks to: Dr Wang Nan for his excellent abilities in negotiating the Chinese permit system and help and advice during field work; colleagues at Beijing Forestry University; and Prof. Bisong Yue at Sichuan University for his hospitality. A big thank you to my brilliant field assistants - Tashi Rabden, Bema Dechin, Gele Chopel, Tsewang Chomtso – who managed to simultaneously be interpreters, language teachers, negotiators and travel companions, and to Kevin Stuart and Gerald Roche for putting me in contact with English speaking students. I had various companions along the way – thank you Que Pin-Jia; Mr Yeh; Yuan Zuo Ping. Thanks also go to Jamon Van Den Hoek, Travis Klingberg, and Paul Buzzard for various favours, advice, and pep talks, and Britt Elm for being a friend during a bout of illness in Chengdu. I would like to thank all the people who helped me in Daocheng, in particular my hosts in Samdo, the community of Bengpo monastery, my local field assistants, and to all the people who opened their doors to me and talked about their lives. I appreciate the time and trust that took. Thanks also to the Daocheng Forestry Bureau for vouching for me and welcoming me; and to the staff at Yading hostel in Daocheng town. Thank you Tsering Gonkatsang for introducing me to the beautiful Tibetan language and for helping me to make my invariably complicated questions understandable. Many people gave me advice along the way including: Mehjabeen Abidi-Habib, Fernanda Pirie, Kerry Waylen, and Riam Sarah Knapp. Thanks also to Erlend Skjeseth for his map making skills. The ICCS research group have been really supportive – thanks Andrea, Ana, Sarah, Adaoma, Joe, Tim, James, Henry and Hannah, and special thanks to Nils Bunnefeld and Jim Roberts for helping me with my statistical demons. Finally, I would like to thank my family - the unwavering support of my parents, my brother Adam and sister-in-law Francesca - and all my friends for happy and much needed distractions. I gratefully received funding from an ESRC studentship with CASE funding from the World Pheasant Association. ii Declaration This dissertation is the result of my own work and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration except where specifically indicated in the text and acknowledgements Emily Woodhouse iii Abbreviations & acronyms AIC Akaike’s Information Criterion ARC Alliance of Religions and Conservation CF Caterpillar Fungus df degrees of freedom DMC Democratic Management Committee ES Ecosystem Service GDP Gross Domestic Product GIS Geographic Information System GLM Generalised Linear Model GPS Global Positioning System ha hectare IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature MEA Millennium Ecosystem Assessment NFPP Natural Forest Protection Programme NGO Non-Governmental Organisation NTFP Non-timber Forest Product PLA People’s Liberation Army PRA Participatory Rural Appraisal PRC The People’s Republic of China PSB Public Security Bureau RMB Renminbi (a unit of Chinese currency) SE Standard Error SLCP Sloping Land Conversion Programme TAR Tibetan Autonomous Region TEK Traditional Ecological Knowledge UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation iv Contents 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1 2. Theory & background .............................................................................................................. 8 2.1 Approaching the nature and culture question: theory and concepts................................................. 8 Reconceptualising nature and culture .............................................................................................................. 8 What counts as conservation?......................................................................................................................... 10 What is religion? ................................................................................................................................................ 11 2.2 Tibet: geography and history ................................................................................................................. 14 2.3 Tibetan Buddhism ................................................................................................................................... 17 Chinese state policies towards Tibetan Buddhism ...................................................................................... 19 2.4 Eastern Tibet – Kham ............................................................................................................................ 20 2.5 History of land use, forestry and hunting in Eastern Tibet .............................................................. 21 2.6 The study site: Daocheng County and Samdo valley ......................................................................... 25 2.7 Interdisciplinary studies: bridging the natural and social science divide ......................................... 28 Defining the problem: the difference between the sciences ...................................................................... 28 The thesis approach.......................................................................................................................................... 29 Approaching social data: actions, norms & representations ...................................................................... 31 2.8 Qualitative ethnographic methods ........................................................................................................ 33 Data collection .................................................................................................................................................. 33 Qualitative data analysis ..................................................................................................................................
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