Locals’ cleanup dedication promotes picturesque lake ecosystem
By Lake Ra’og Tso in Southwest China’s Xizang autonomous region sits Aru village, where decades ago almost all local youngsters had to raft across the lake to reach the nearest township while using a wooden stick to pick up floating garbage along the way.
The villagers’ eco-friendly practice has turned into a cause supported by government funds, which has also proven to be lucrative due to booming tourism development.
A total of 227 people across 43 households now live in the village, which is in the city of Chamdo in eastern Xizang.
The local government hires more than 40 locals to take turns to clean up garbage by the lake and the surrounding forests.
These ecosystem “guardians” are also in charge of patrolling and maintaining the roads and the sanitation work of the surrounding environment. After collection, the garbage will be sent to waste disposal factories for recycling.
A staff member can earn a monthly income of 3,500 yuan ($491) for their work, said Dampa, a 46-year-old villager.
About two decades ago, when Dampa was still in his 20s, he was conditioned to scoop up the floating rubbish on the lake just like his peers. “There was mainly plastic waste dumped by the residents and tourists. The garbage was particularly noticeable against the beautiful lake,” Dampa recalled.
To maintain the clean and picturesque scenery of the lake, the villagers started garbage picking of their own accord.
In 2008, a bridge was built across the lake, putting an end to the rafting travel needs of the locals. However, the garbage collecting routine has survived.
Tsering Dondrup, 25, a village official, said he went to school on Dampa’s raft when he was a primary school student. The official remembered clearly the scenes of adults picking up garbage on the lake.
In 2021, when Tsering Dondrup became an official of the village committee, he and other officials decided to protect the lake’s ecosystem while applying for a scenic area recognition of the village.
A well-preserved ecological environment of the lake and its surroundings is a must for the possibility of a burgeoning tourism sector, Tsering Dondrup said. Therefore, he and other colleagues started to promote environmental protection knowledge to the villagers to raise awareness of the ecosystem.
In 2021, Aru village was listed among the region’s demonstration villages of ecological civilization construction, winning the fame as “the most beautiful village by Lake Ra’og Tso”.
The lake, the largest in the east of Xizang, now receives 300,000 visitors annually, becoming a popular tourist destination in the region, which helps the locals rake in a total of 30 million yuan every year.
“Without the villagers’ efforts and the government support for recycling garbage, there is no possibility that Ra’og Tso could sustain its beauty as it is now, and our village will never live up to its reputation of ‘the most beautiful village’ by the lake,” said Xu Cong, a village official.