The Last Nomads of the Tibetan Plateau [2012]
87 images Created 31 Jul 2013
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For 5,000 years the nomads of the Tibetan Plateau have roamed freely, moving their flocks of sheep and cattle with the changing seasons. But over the past decade these people have been moved, often against their will, from the grasslands and into newly constructed towns and villages across the plateau.
In 2000, China's new "Western Development Strategy" was introduced by the central government, aimed at bringing improvements to the poverty-stricken west through infrastructural investment. As part of this strategy, it was deemed necessary to encourage the removal of the nomads of the highland grasslands in order to protect the important headwaters region.
To date, it has been estimated that up to 100,000 "ecological migrants" have now been removed from nomadic communities on the grasslands resulting in the slow disappearance of a unique culture.
For 5,000 years the nomads of the Tibetan Plateau have roamed freely, moving their flocks of sheep and cattle with the changing seasons. But over the past decade these people have been moved, often against their will, from the grasslands and into newly constructed towns and villages across the plateau.
In 2000, China's new "Western Development Strategy" was introduced by the central government, aimed at bringing improvements to the poverty-stricken west through infrastructural investment. As part of this strategy, it was deemed necessary to encourage the removal of the nomads of the highland grasslands in order to protect the important headwaters region.
To date, it has been estimated that up to 100,000 "ecological migrants" have now been removed from nomadic communities on the grasslands resulting in the slow disappearance of a unique culture.
