Featured on the Chinese Government Official Web Portal, the Pendeba Program was depicted as “having brought noticeable achievements.”  

The program, started in 1994, was in response to the growing need for local participation in the protection of the Qomolangma National Nature Preserve (QNNP) in the Mt. Everest Region. This innovative program relies on a new type of conservation and community service volunteer, known as a Pendeba. Pendebas are locally nominated volunteers from each village within the protected area who improve family health, advance options for income generation, spread conservation concepts, and organize collaborative action around local priorities. In QNNP, these volunteers have helped to decrease child mortality by 50% and reduce deforestation by 80%. 

From 1994-2010, more than 1200 Pendebas were trained to bring benefits to villages in three protected areas of Tibet. In 1998, the United Nations recognized the program as one of the world’s most successful examples of sustainable human development.

On October 28, 2011, staff of The Pendeba Society came to Enba Village to deliver a workshop on public healthcare, environmental conservation in QNNP and on-going projects of the Society. Over 70 villagers participated in the workshop including the village chief Mr. Sonam Tsering. We were also glad to have Party Secretary of Gangga Township, Mr. Dawa Tsering at our workshop, who showed pertinent interest and support in our project in Enba Village. 

We were first warmly welcomed by the attendees followed by the introduction of Mr. Sonam Tsering. And then, Norbu took the lead of the workshop, introducing to the villagers knowledge about public sanitation, mother-child healthcare, environmental conservation in QNNP as well as The Pendeba Society and its current projects in QNNP’s four counties. The workshop was formally closed by Mr. Dawa Tsering, who in his closure remarks emphasized what Norbu has mentioned about environmental protection and public healthcare. He said that “We can do little to generate a great deal of fortune for our future generations, but what we can do is to better conserve our natural environment and resources for them.” He also expressed his appreciation toward our project and its impact, and would help with the project communication within local governments.

Followed by the workshop is the ceremony delivering 98 sets of small solar power lighting systems to the village members. Our project in Enba Village does not only aim to better conserve wetland resources near the village by transforming conventional sheep corrals into ones that are more sustaining and environmentally friendly, we also intend to improve the village’s living conditions in terms of lighting at nights given the village still does not have access to regular electricity supply. 

Mr. Sonam Tsering, on behalf of the village extended their gratitude to The Pendeba Society for the project. In the meantime, we are also very appreciative of the village’s keen participation and active involvement, without which the project cannot be finished in time. In particular, we are also grateful to the government of Tingri County and Gangga Town. With their generous support, we therefore are able to smoothly and successfully carry out the project. It has vividly demonstrated our work strategy that we live up to over the past decades – the “Three-way Partnership” that involves "bottom-up" initiative from communities, "top-down" support from government agencies, and "outside-in" training and support from organizations. 

On October 15, 2011, Norbu delivered a workshop to 20 project participants of Daqu Village focusing on environmental conservation, introduction of QNNP and on-going projects of The Pendeba Society. The event also marked the successful completion of the Society’s Daqu Farmland and Wetland Protection Project funded by Vale Award. 

The project, by setting enclosures around the village’s farmland, aims to protect over 70 hectares’ farmland from being trodden by wandering animals like cattle, houses and sheep and reduce collateral agricultural lost. The protected farmland will ensure increased agricultural productivity and safeguard food security for low income villagers in the community. Additionally, as a main feed for livestock, the leftover of harvested Tibetan barley will also increase, which reduces traditional dependence on natural grassland and stimulates the sustainable development for animal husbandry in the region. In the meantime, it also changes the way how villagers build their farmland fences to be more environmentally friendly. Conventional farmland fences are made of wetland earth masses digging from neighboring wetland, which has imposed very destructive impacts on wetland ecosystems as well as grass production for livestock. The project provides benefits to over 500 villagers and more than 8000 livestock in Daqu Village. 

This project echoes with our another project in Tingri’s Enba Village, which also aims to change the conventional sheep corrals that are made of wetland earth masses from neighboring wetlands along Pengqu River – QNNP’s largest river. And this project will be launched soon and is expected to complete by the end of the month. 

Mr. Nanchu Ouzhu, Daqu Village Chief on behalf of the village expressed gratitude to The Pendeba Society for the project and hopes that more projects of such will be carried out in his village in the near future. The Pendeba Society is also appreciative of Daqu community for their active participation and contribution to this project, without which it cannot be a success.  After the workshop, a project assessment was also conducted where we gathered valuable information about the community’s attitudes toward our project and their need, which will be of great help to planning our future projects for the community. 

On October 8, 2011, our second project of Vale Award was launched in Nyalam County’s Daqu Village. Led by Mr. Nanchu Ouzhu, Daqu’s Village Chief and other village leaders, over 120 village members participated in the construction of the project, which is expected to be completed by the middle of the month.  

The project, by setting enclosures around the village’s farmland, aims to protect over 70 hectares’ farmland from being trodden by wandering animals like cattle, houses and sheep and reduce collateral agricultural lost. The protected farmland will ensure increased agricultural productivity and safeguard food security for low income villagers in the community. In the meantime, as a main feed for livestock, the leftover of harvested Tibetan barley will also increase, which reduces traditional dependence on natural grassland and stimulates the sustainable development for animal husbandry in the region.  It will benefit over 500 villagers and more than 8000 livestock in Daqu Village. 

On the other hand, traditional enclosures of the village’s farmland are made of earth blocks dug from the neighboring wetland, which also brings about expansive destruction to ecosystems of wetland and grassland where uprooted grasslands cannot be easily recovered at this altitude of 4300 meters high. By using wire enclosures, it will therefore end such unsustainable and environmentally unfriendly activities, and leave time and space for destructed wetland to restore, where conservation can be achieved for animals living on such natural resource.  

The Pendeba Society would like to express our sincere gratitude to Vale Award and the Government of Nailong Township, who provide funding and other support to make this project run smoothly. We also like to thank Daqu villagers because without their active participation and involvement, this project cannot be implemented this early. By the end of the project, follow-up lectures will then delivered to Daqu community on environmental conservation and community development.   

This is just a beginning of our conservation effort. In the near future, The Pendeba Society will apply various approaches such as traditional sheep corral transformation to better conserve the wetland and grassland that exist along Pengqu River, the largest river in QNNP.