Relocation from high altitude places helped people, environment in Tibet

Relocating residents from extreme high altitude areas to lower places in the Tibet autonomous region was a good thing both for the environment and people's heath, said Nyima Tashi, a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, on Sunday.

Nyima Tashi, head of the Tibet Academy of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, said Tibet performed ecological relocation as a key measure to better protect the natural environment and to help poverty-stricken residents get out of poverty, which was closely related to living in extreme high altitude areas.

According to Nyima Tashi, by the end of 2019, Tibet lifted 628,000 impoverished people out of poverty, and all the region's 74 counties and districts were removed from the poverty list.

In terms of ecological relocation project, as of now, more than 260,000 people have moved to their new homes from harsh living environment, and now the region plans to relocate more than 133,000 residents who live in extreme high altitude areas to new settlements.

"Pema is one of the thousands beneficiaries, the old man who originally lived in Kartso township of the region's Tsonyi county, where the average altitude is 5,000 meters above the sea level, and his home was relocated to a lower place in the region's Lhokha city," said Nyima Tashi, adding his livelihood has seen a big improvement by the shift.

"The altitude in this new location is 1,400 meters lower than the previous place, with more oxygen, I get more sleep, and I enjoy a better life now," said Pema as quoted by Nyima Tashi.

Nyima Tashi said Tibet is known as the globe's third pole, due to lack of oxygen, and poor infrastructure coverage, places with the average altitude above 4,800 meters were unfit for human existence.

"With regard to poverty alleviation in these extreme high altitude areas, the investment is bigger, and the poverty alleviation work is much harder compared with lower places," Nyima Tashi said.