"Flower power monk protects 'wild west'"

The following article, including photos, is from China Daily. Thanks to a reader for sharing this article. It's about a monk's research and public education work on flowers of the Tibetan Plateau. Normally I add articles of interest published elsewhere on a separate "Other Stories" page, but this one gets a special place on the Tibetan Plateau Blog. I hope Sonam Konchog la's story inspires more Tibetans to engage in environmental or other such research and education initiatives, and not be completely bogged down by religion or politics.




Flower power monk protects 'wild west'
By Guo Shuhan (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-02-01 09:52

Sonam Konchog, 44, is obsessed with flowers. The lama of Serkhang Monastery in southwestern Qinghai province has spent a good part of his life observing the plants blanketing the holy Gadoiqowo Mountain in Chindu county, Yushu Tibetan prefecture.

"Have you ever gazed at a flower for more than a minute? If you have, you'll know you can communicate with them," he says.

This passionate man of flowers has compiled an illustrated pamphlet of the indigenous flora and distributed it to the villagers in this area. Sonam believes that only when they become aware of their natural environment, will they be motivated to stop tourists and pilgrims from picking the flowers at will.

In the 25 years that he has spent at the monastery, Sonam has traveled to the holy mountain every August, as dictated by his religion. The numerous flowers fascinated him and he began to set aside some money to buy himself a camera. He finally got one in 2004.

Flowers in full bloom always draw his full attention. His favorite is the red poppywort. The lama seems to share a special relationship with this tiny flower with bright red petals and a sweet fragrance. Sonam sets off on its trail between May and June, as the flower stays in bloom for just four short days.


Red poppywort is an endangered species. Courtesy of Sonam Konchog

A senior lama of the monastery, who specializes in traditional Tibetan medicine, told Sonam the flower is good for the liver and lungs. It was once common in the area, but is becoming harder to find, as are many other kinds of plants.

In 2005, Sonam decided to do something to protect these flowering plants. Every year, he along with 19 other monks and villagers, visits the mountain in August when the flowers are in bloom.

In 2008, he put together some 200 pictures of different flowers into a pamphlet titled Botany Archives of Holy Gadoiqowo Mountain. Each flower is carefully catalogued with its name in Tibetan, English, Latin and Chinese. The pamphlet also details the medicinal properties of the flowers, if any.

Thanks to help from the Shanshui Conservation Center, an organization for bio-diversity conservation founded by professor Lu Zhi of Peking University, and the Qinghai Forest Bureau, 1,500 copies of the pamphlet have been distributed to the locals for free.

"We have been looking for people like Sonam who are dedicated and capable in environment protection," Lu says. "These grass-root conservationists are actually the most powerful force in protecting China's wild west."

Sonam has included parts of the pamphlet in 1,000 textbooks, in Tibetan, for students, which he has helped edit. He has enlisted the support of herdsmen to ensure these flowers are not picked, and also made a short documentary about dandelions last year for a video project sponsored by the EU-China Biodiversity Program.

The project invited 10 amateur filmmakers to articulate the challenges for biological and cultural diversity. Eight documentaries were shown last December in Kunming, Yunnan province.

"We Tibetan Buddhists revere nature. The pamphlet tells people that plants cannot survive if torn from their roots.

"I trust the good nature of the locals. Their care of plants and animals will bring about a lasting harmonious relationship with the holy mountain, which has blessed us generation after generation," Sonam says.