Environment
and current issues
Tibet
has thinner air, more sunlight, lower temperatures and less
precipitation than other areas in China The air contains
only 150-170 grams oxygen per cubic meter, 62-65.4 percent
that of plain areas.
The
degree of industrial and other pollution in Tibet is comparatively
light. No major instance of environmental pollution has
ever occurred and there is no acid rain. Whenever a construction
project with potential environmental effects is begun, there
is an evaluation of environmental impact. This system also
requires that pollution control facilities be designed,
constructed and completed at the same time as the main project
in question. Some former sources of pollution have been
brought under control. The smoke prevention and dust removal
rate for fuel combustion waste gases is 80 percent in the
region. Urban construction is reasonably planned and afforestation
is stressed. The "green rate" in Lhasa is 17.6 percent,
supplying an average 12 square meters of green space per
person.
In
recent years, technical and research departments have completed
a number of investigations into the sources of industrial
pollution in Tibet and regional wild plant and animal resources.
Environmental supervision and monitoring stations have been
established in Lhasa, Xigaze and Qamdo. Investigations indicate
that Tibet's environment is currently in good shape. The
air and water are essentially unpolluted. Environmental
radiation is within normal limits and no manmade radioactive
pollution is present.
Enforcement
of environmental protection laws
The
government of Tibet Autonomous Region has consistently stressed
the implementation of the nation's fundamental policy that
natural resources be rationally utilized so as to protect
the environment, conscientiously realizing the coordinated
planning and carrying out economic, urban and rural, and
environmental construction.
In
recent years, the Standing Committee of the Tibetan People's
Congress and the regional government have issued a series
of regional laws and administrative regulations geared to
environmental protection, including the "Tibet Autonomous
Region Environmental Protection Ordinance," "Tibet Autonomous
Region Forest Protection Ordinance," "Interim Provisions
for Grasssland Manag ement in the Tibet Autonomous Region,"
"Tibet Autonomous Region People's Government Proclamation
on the Protection of Aquatic Resources" and "Tibet Autonomous
Region Administrative Procedures for Environmental Protection
in Construction Projects." There are 20 regulations governing
the protection of wild animals.
The
government of the Tibet Autonomous Region established an
environment protection agency in 1975 and an environment
protection committee in 1990. Environmental protection laws
and regulations concern forests, wild plants and animals,
species preservation, ecological agriculture and animal
husbandry, headwaters, natural and man-made sites deserving
of protection for scenic or cultural and historic reasons,
valuable geological landforms, and mountains. For many years
hard work has gone to preventing forest fires and planting
more trees. |
