Pendeba in the Tibetan language means “Worker who benefits the village”

Pendebas are locally elected villagers who are trained in the practical skills of environmental protection, primary healthcare, and income generation. Their training is brought to villages through formal and informal teaching and word of mouth exchanges. Each Pendeba increases local capacity by helping entire villages identify sustainable solutions to environmental, health, and economic challenges. Tibetan language training manuals and school books are distributed by Pendeba workers, increasing access to high-quality basic educational materials. Through the Pendeba Program, and in cooperation with the regional government and other organizations, Future Generations has achieved major conservation successes in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

The Pendeba Program was developed in 1994 in response to the growing need for local Preserve Wardens in the Qomolangma National Nature Preserve (QNNP) in the Mt. Everest Region. The program was part of a new approach to protected areas management that saw local inhabitants of the newly created protected zone trained in conservation leadership. According to local need, the Pendeba’s curriculum has expanded from environmental awareness to addressing other practical needs. Since 1994, the Program has been extended to Lyingchi Prefecture in 2002, to the Naggu Prefecture in 2003, and to the Four Great Rivers region of Chamdo and Linzhi Prefectures in 2006. To date, there are a total of 672 Pendebas working throughout all of the program areas.

Through the efforts of Pendebas, life is improving in the villages of Eastern Tibet. Measurable improvements have been observed in fuel conservation, use of solar cooking equipment, as well as the use of irrigation ditches. Significant progress has been made in increasing basic health care awareness and family planning. Many communities have started to implement income generation programs in order to reduce dependency on local natural resources. These programs include green house management, kitchen gardening, livestock, production and sale of handcrafts to tourists, and the sale of local specialties such as medicinal herbs.


In villages across Tibet, where the environment is harsh and access to modern amenities is rare, communities face countless challenges. Lack of basic healthcare is one of the most serious problems and diseases such as pneumonia and tuberculosis present a great risk to these communities. Limitations in transportation infrastructure and communications leave remote villages vulnerable and lacking resources. Common methods of income generation are also not feasible in the high altitude environment of Tibet and as a result, communities often depend on local natural resources to support themselves. Unfortunately, without proper education in conservation and sustainable development, the methods used to extract these resources combined with intensive harvesting can lead to severely damaged ecosystems.

The Pendeba Program was created to address these challenges and to establish a framework for bottom-up conservation and development that is implemented by and for local communities. By training locally elected villagers in the basics of healthcare and education, natural resource management, and income generation, the Pendeba Program enables communities to address their own needs while protecting the local environment. The Program is based on the three thematic components of education, livelihoods, and environment.


 

The education component seeks to:

  • provide educational materials for children
  • teach the fundamentals of basic health care
  • build awareness of local natural resources and their importance
  • improve technical skills

The livelihoods component seeks to generate incomes through:

  • ecotourism
  • local handicrafts
  • agricultural products with appropriate technology and improved breeding seeds
  • appropriate use of natural resources (mushrooms, herbal medicines, etc.)

The environment component emphasizes:

  • sustainable use of local resources
  • the use of renewable resources such as solar, wind, and biogas power
  • the protection of endangered species
  • better sanitation methods to protect local water supplies
 
 
The Pendeba Program has brought a new conservation-management approach to Tibet, one in which local people work in cooperation with government and outside experts to create lasting conservation partnerships.

In 1998 the United Nations deemed the Pendeba Program one of the “50 Most Effective Development Programs for Poor People in the World”. Some of the extraordinary achievements seen in the QNNP and Four Great Rivers region of the Program are highlighted below:

  • 40% of the land area in Tibet has been put under conservation management with the active participation of local people as conservation stewards
  • Child mortality rates have decreased by 50%
  • Child immunization rates have risen to 90%
  • Minimized conflict with endangered species and consequently population numbers are increasing, including those of the snow-leopard, Tibetan antelope, red ghoral, and argali sheep
  • Deforestation rates have decreased by more than 80% and large- scale tree planting is underway in fragile river drainages
  • The use of environmentally-friendly solar, geothermal, and hydroelectric generated energy has expanded across Tibet
In order to continue a legacy of self-reliant, sustainable development across the Tibetan Plateau, Future Generations supports participatory evaluation and planning in its programs. A program wide review of the Tibet programs is currently underway to inform the focus of future programs. Long term plans include:
  • Increasing technical training for Pendebas in the Four Great Rivers region to support the completion of a GIS database for land-use planning and management
  • Establishing a Pendeba learning center for future training, and to serve as a location for local, national and international interests to share their knowledge on community based environmental development
  • Expanding the Pendeba program to other areas of the Tibet Autonomous Region, and to retrain old Pendebas to improve and build on their skills
 
 

Tree Nurseries in the Gama Valley Forests

The Gama Valley Forests is a core zone in the Qomolangma National Nature Preserve. Before coming under official protection, the Forests were subject to timber extraction by villagers. Seeing the destructive, long term impacts of this practice, the local Pendeba undertook an ambitious reforestation initiative. He followed the example set by the Pendeba from Chudang and established a large nursery of poplar, willow, and apple trees. The nursery created an alternative source of employment for the villagers, and many former tree-cutters have become tree-planters.

Medicine in Basong Village

In Basong village, which is under the care of Pendeba Zhenchiong, there is an ongoing problem with chronic diarrhea. As the local Pendeba, she teaches the villagers about oral rehydration solutions (ORT). Local resources are sparse, but in Basong village, a matchbox of roasted barley ?our, half a beer cap of salt, and a beer bottle of boiled water is all that is needed to make an adequate ORT. Pendeba Zhenchiong has also helped her village create a community forest by planting poplar seedlings. Initially, villagers were skeptical and thought that Basong was too high in elevation to grow trees, but she has proved to them that this is possible.

Cooperatives in Sanddanlin Village

In many of Tibet’s villages, agriculture is impossible due to high altitudes. Sanddanlin Village is one of these places. Despite the herding of livestock, it was still very poor and villagers lacked money to pay for even the most basic medicines. To address this problem, the local Pendeba set up an insurance fund in the form of a livestock cooperative. He obtained 32 goats from villagers and the community collectively looked after them. Each spring and fall, after the sale of the wool from the goats, he put the proceeds into the cooperative to buy medicine. Today the number of goats has grown to 63 and the cooperative has 1,098 RMB (about $137) in reserves and has reinvested 200 RMB (about $200) into medicine. In total, the cooperative is now worth 6,338 RMB (about $782).