AN ENVINROMENTAL EDUCATION

Produced by

DRIKUNG KAGYU INSTITUTE

Let's join hands and protect Nature

WHAT WE DO

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This text would not have been written without the interest and concern that His Holiness Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang Rinpoche has for the environmental problems arising in the world today.
I would like to thank His Holiness for the many ways in which he offered the support without which this text would not have been written.
I should also thank the Johan-Sophia Foundation, the Netherlands, and in particular Ingrid Sickler, without whose kind support and financial assistance it would not have been possible to write the text.
Furthermore, I would like to thank Ms. Sunita Nerain of the Centre of Science and Environment and Dr. C. A. Skarda Ph.D. for their help in editing the text.
To Ms. Rinchen Dolma Taring and her family I would like to express my sincere gratitude for their hospitality and support throughout my stay in India.
All the members of the Drikung Kagyu Institute are thanked for extending their warmth and hospitality to me during my stay.
Duncan Mac Lean was so kind to make the illustrations for the text.
Last but not least, my thanks go to Venerable Konchok Phandey and Venerable Konchok Tamphel who assisted me while writing the text. The translation into Tibetan comes from their hands.
May this text contribute to the awareness of environmental problems and their possible solutions. May the knowledge and insights arising from this text lead to a respectful and wise consideration of nature.

Cornelia L. Steffens
Jangchubling, March 1996

AN ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

Published by DRIKUNG KAGYU INSTITUTE

INTRODUCTION

The environment in the Himalayan region is rapidly deteriorating, which is for the large part due to a lack of awareness of the linkages within nature itself and the variety of choices open to men.
The traditional life-styles of the Tibetan speaking people evolved in response to daily needs, and that way of life reflected an understanding of the available resources and how to use them in a sustainable way. The Tibetan people have always been experts in dealing with the delicate balance between nature and human development in a vulnerable mountain landscape. Tibetan culture has traditionally interacted with the environment in a harmonious way. Today Tibetan speaking people, who live in India (Ladakh), Bhutan, Nepal and of course Tibet, are confronted with some severe environmental problems.
One of the important themes is the interdependent nature of the forest ecosystems. For example because of the explosive population growth in the Himalayan regions, the pressure on the agricultural land increased enormously. Numerous trees were cut to obtain fuelwood, fodder and new land for agriculture.
This deforestation causes severe problems, not only locally but also in a much wider area. Locally it exposes the vulnerable soil to heavy rains, causing severe erosion. Without fertile topsoil the forest is not able to regenerate. When this topsoil has been washed away on land used for agricultural purposes, crops won’t be very productive. This leaves the soil an easy victim to further degeneration. On a wider scale deforestation has a high impact on the waterbalance of an area. The soil is not able to retain precipitation, due to the change in the soil’s structure. This causes severe soil erosion and it may cause floods further down stream. Less water is retained by the river basin. Thus, rivers are forced to accommodate much larger quantities of water. Even droughts are a result of deforestation and the resulting change in the soil’s water balance.
Less water is taken up by the soil when the soil is cleared from any protective vegetation.
The remaining water vaporizes easily from the topsoil due to climatic circumstances. Altogether, a soil impoverished in nutrients becomes less and less suited for agricultural or pasture purposes. Forests are also important regulators of the global climate. As such, they are the “lungs” of the earth.
These problems, caused by overpopulation and exploitation of the mountains, are relatively new. It’s important to make these problems recognizable in order to incorporate them within a “mountain wise” lifestyle.
As we learn best by doing and observing, this book incorporates familiar daily situations. We hope that the experiments and questions in this book will tempt you to look more closely at your environment and to think about it more carefully. Thus, enabling you to invent solutions for any environmental problems near to you.
Cornelia L. Steffens
Jangchubling, March 1996

What are Earth Cycles?

All the energy for life on Earth comes from the sun. The sun starts the cycle. It gives life the ability to grow. Actually, the Earth cycle is made up out of several smaller cycles: the soil, water, and air cycle.

The cycle goes round and round. Life on Earth is constantly recycling materials. The recycling of nutrients is the most important cycle for life. This cycle shows us that all existence on Earth is interdependent. Plants need the sun to grow; they take up moisture and food from the soil through their roots. Animals eat plants, some animals eat other animals, and dead and decaying animals are turned into new soil by the creatures living within the soil.
Unfortunately the Earth cycles are under a lot of stress today. And because of that our own existence is threatened as well. If one part of a cycle is disturbed, the whole cycle will be affected.

If you look around you, you can see that the environment is always changing. Lately some negative changes have been occurring. Can you see them? Or, if you ask your parents, grandparents or teachers, have they noticed? Are there as many trees around you as there used to be? Is it harder to find food for your animals? Is your food as tasty as it used to be? Or, is it even harder to grow your own food? If you go for a walk, is your environment as beautiful as it used to be or is its beauty spoiled by the plastic, paper and other garbage that people are throwing away?
If you look carefully there are a lot of signs that show you that the Earth is sick, maybe even dying, and it is because of us humans. During the last several hundred years we have taken more out of nature than nature is capable of giving. Doing so we have disturbed the natural cycles existing in nature. We are polluting our environment and we’re wasting our precious natural resources.

If we continue this way the Earth’s resources will be all used up in a short period of time. The natural world is suffering from our greed.

However bad the situation is, it can be changed. The Earth is capable of repairing itself but it needs our help. We must stop wasting natural resources and polluted areas must be cleaned. We hold the responsibility and the choices in our hands. As humans we are dependent on nature in order to stay alive. But at this moment nature depends on us to be saved.

This book will explain the working of the earth cycles and the influence you have upon them. It will tempt you to look more closely at your environment and to think about it more carefully. It will give you an opportunity to make a change for the better. It will help you invent solutions for any environmental problem near you. This will not only benefit your own life but the lives of others, now and in the future as well.

What are ecosystems

Living and non-living things together make up an ecosystem. Within an ecosystem no part can live without the other. The Earth is not the same everywhere — we can find different ecosystems scattered all over the world. In some parts of the Earth we’ll find dry deserts. In other parts there are mountains with snowy peaks. Where the weather is cool and windy you’ll find green grassland and rolling hills. Even a city is an ecosystem of its own. You can see that every ecosystem has its own distinctive appearance and its natural beauty has an inexpressible value.
Within an ecosystem the processes and activities are in balance. These balances are very sensitive and can easily be upset or destroyed. An ecosystem can be looked upon as a natural resource system. It is flexible but has its limits. We have altered the natural systems we depend on and thus disturbed the natural balance.

ECOLOGY
In ecology we study the relationships between animals and plants and the environment they live in. Studying these relationships helps us to understand how ecosystems work.

Natural needs

All living things need air to breathe and energy, soil, and water to grow. The four elements: Earth, water, fire, and wind are found in every living creature. They determine the growth of all. If you consider a plant, first it needs to be sown in the field. The Earth helps the seed anchor into the soil. Through its roots, the plant takes up food from the soil. So it is important to have good soil. The seed needs water to protect it from drying. The sun’s radiation (heat) gives the plant the energy to sprout and grow. The air is a plant’s breath (and helps the plant to grow). In space and time a plant can fully grow. Hence a plant grows from a seed to a seedling, to a sprout, to a leaf; out comes the stem and finally a flower. As the flower opens, insects will come and feed on the flower’s nectar. In this way the fruit of a flower will be formed. This fruit will become a new plant going through the cycle once again.
The most important basic ingredient of life is energy. Energy is the power that enables a living creature to breathe, grow, move, and eat. Energy is in the food which creatures live on. Its main source is the sun. Without the warmth of the sun’s rays all living things would freeze. Directly or indirectly, we all need the sun. A plant traps energy from the sun into its leaves. It does so with the help of a gas in the air called carbon dioxide, along with water and nutrients from the soil. This process is called photosynthesis.
A plant’s leaves provide energy for animals. We get our energy by eating animals and plants.
What will happen when the sun is shut off? To see what happens, try this experiment. Take a potted plant. Place it inside a cardboard box with a small hole on one side. Place the box and plant on your windowsill with the hole facing to the left. Water your plant regularly. After a few days remove the box. What changes do you see in your plant? Now change the direction of the hole. Keep the plant in the box for a few more days and then observe its stem and leaves. You’ll see that your plant twists and turns to find the sun. It grows towards the light.
If plants are not exposed to the sun they lose their colour. The green leaves turn dull. You can see this if you pick up something which has covered the grass for a couple of days. Plants need the sun to make their leaves green. The green stuff is called chlorophyll. Without this the plant can’t trap the sun’s energy and dies. Without plants there would be a lot of suffering. There would be no food to eat and no oxygen in the air. We would all suffocate or die of hunger.

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