Tibetan Leader Calls for Wildlife Protection

"Animals are not our enemies. We are all interdependent; every animal has a role to play in the ecology by being a part of the food chain," H.H. the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, told an audience of students and guests at the Tibetan Children's Village School in Dharamsala on Monday.

"If you remove one layer, the entire chain is affected. Even while talking in the interest of human beings, by saving wildlife, you are ultimately helping yourself," the 25-year-old Karmapa said at an awareness event organized by the nonprofit groups Wildlife Trust of India and Care for the Wild International.

"From the Buddhist viewpoint, we say every sentient being is a mother sentient being. We believe in bringing no harm to others including animals, but the ground reality is that this is being neglected," said the Karmapa.

H.H. the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje advocates wildlife protection at the Tibetan Children's Village School. June 29, 2009. (Photo courtesy Office of the Karmapa)

"Some may believe that the environment is so huge that it cannot be affected by the action of one person. However, individuals can make lots of differences; the kind of difference, whether positive or negative, depends on the character and belief of humans," he said.

The Karmapa heads the Kagyu lineage, one of four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism. He has taken an interest in environmental conservation and for Earth Day 2009 he released a list of practical activities for Kagyu monasteries and centers entitled, "108 Things You Can Do to Help the Environment," produced during the First Kagyu Conference on Environmental Protection held in Varanasi in March.

Monday's wildlife conservation event was a part of the Tibetan Conservation Awareness Campaign, a WTI-CWI project aimed at spreading conservation awareness among Tibetans.

The campaign was launched by His Holiness the Dalai Lama on April 6, 2005, to address the involvement of Tibetans in wildlife crimes and the use of wildlife articles in Tibetan medicines and traditional clothing.

In 2006, a conservation message by His Holiness the Dalai Lama generated tremendous emotional response, culminating in several incidents of wild animal skin burning by Tibetans across Tibet and in Dharamsala, an indication of Tibetans shunning the use of wild animal parts.

Despite crackdowns by the Chinese authorities, the skin burning episodes have continued sporadically, with the latest incidents reported as recently as April.

The importance of this campaign was underscored by the arrest of four suspected Tibetan wildlife traders in eastern Nepal late last week.

Twenty-three deer traps and parts of Impeyan pheasant, Lophophorus impejanus, the national bird of Nepal, were among the articles in their possession seized by police. International trade in Impeyan pheasants and their parts is prohibited under the Convention on International Trade in Endanagered Species.

Dr. Barbara Maas, chief executive of Care for the Wild International, said, "One of the key principles of Buddhism is compassion towards all sentient beings. Yet, the life of each and every animal killed for its skin and body parts ends in an act of violence. Cumulatively, this violence has consequences not only for the fate of individuals but for that of whole species."

"The list of animal species threatened with extinction as a result of human behavior grows longer and every year. It currently stands at over 7,200," said Maas. "If our own species continues to extinguish others, it will spell disaster for us too, because we are part of nature and cannot survive in isolation."

Over the years, Tibetan Conservation Awareness Campaign field officers of Tibetan origin have visited urban areas and remote rural areas to spread the message of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and to spread conservation awareness among Tibetans. To date, the TCAC campaign has reached 53 Tibetan settlements, 68 schools and 106 monasteries across India, in addition to several in Nepal.

"Tibetan leaders wield tremendous influence on Tibetan people. So, we approached leaders of various Tibetan sects for their blessings and support for our campaign to help conserve wildlife," said Ashok Kumar, vice-chairman of the Wildlife Trust of India.

"We have observed a visible increase in awareness levels within the Tibetan community, but obviously our work is far from complete," Kumar said. "The words of His Holiness the Karmapa will help fortify our campaign and benefit the cause by leaving a lingering message in the minds of young Tibetans and adults alike."

"Four years ago, TCAC was a vague idea in the minds of a few people with faint hope in their hearts," said Dr. Maas. "Since then it has become not only one of the most successful conservation initiatives the world has ever seen, it has also set a new standard for how the right attitude towards nature, of which we all are a part, can make the world a better place."

Dr. Maas gave credit to the Tibetan people for accepting the conservation message of their leaders. "The unprecedented success of TCAC is due to you, the Tibetan people," she said, "including the most famous of them all, His Holiness the Dalai Lama."

Copyright Environment News Service, ENS, 2009. All rights reserved.