<p><strong>Creator's Description</strong>: The western Tibetan Plateau is currently undergoing the initiation of substantial changes in rangeland management associated with China's drive to develop the western provinces and new land tenure arrangements for pastoralists under the "household responsibility system." However, this same region of high plateau, encompassing parts of western Qinghai, western Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and the far south of Xinjiang Autonomous Region, has also seen the recent creation of a number of large nature reserves, covering almost 70 percent of the high northern Tibetan Plateau, called the Byang thang region. Biodiversity conservation here is focused on large mammal species such as the Tibetan antelope, wild yak and other herbivores, some of which have seen dramatic reductions in their populations over the past century. Large-scale efforts have been initiated to deter hunting, but the effects of this activity on livelihoods of some of the northernmost pastoralist communities are little-noticed or appreciated. More significant in the long term, however, is that although Tibet's nomadic herders have coexisted with the various wild species for centuries, current development efforts on the plateau to modernize livestock husbandry will lessen the potential for maintenance of current wild populations, and their unique attributes such as the large-scale migratory behavior of some of these wild species. We focus on an area with pastoralists and abundant wildlife at the northern limit of human habitation in the western Byang thang Nature Reserve, where the same development interventions as on the rest of the plateau appear to be in conflict with conservation goals. Although some accommodations between human and wildlife interests are possible, as in other pastoral regions of the world, the mixing of wild and domestic large herbivores can be very problematic, and in such instances the maintenance of modern versions of traditional management regimes is often best. How development and nature reserve conservation efforts interact to affect both ecosystem attributes and local livelihoods will constitute formative policy issues in the Byang thang for the foreseeable future.</p>
Several letters to the editor are presented in response to the article on the research on collaborative event ethnography (CEE).
Compiled from the lectures delivered at Kolmas in Holland and in Australia
Tibetan medicine integrates diet, lifestyle, herbs, and accessory therapies to increase health and longevity. A comparison of the three humor theory of Tibetan medicine and the three thermodynamic phase properties of myelin lipids exemplifies how integrating medical systems can increase understanding of complex chronic disabling conditions. As a correlative study to microscopically better understand multiple sclerosis (MS) from the view of Tibetan medicine, the physical disruption of central nervous system myelin membranes in MS is interpreted from the theory of the three humors (vital energies) of Tibetan medicine: rLung (Wind), MKhris pa (Bile), and Bad gen (Phlegm). The three classes of myelin lipids - phospholipids, sphingolipids, and cholesterol - are interpreted as one of three humors based on Langmuir isotherm thermodynamic measurements. The nature of rLung is movement or change. Myelin sphingolipids have rLung properties based on thermodynamic observations of changes in phase organization. MKhris pa is fire, energetic. Phospholipids have MKhris pa properties based on thermodynamic observations of being energetic membrane lipids with fast molecular motions and fluidâlike properties. The nature of Bad gen is substance and form; it dominates body structure. Cholesterol relates to Bad gen because it dominates membrane structure. We propose a theoretical relationship whereby demyelination in MS is viewed as a continuum of imbalance of the three humors as understood in Tibetan medicine. Myelin lipid data is presented to support this theoretical relationship. Clinically, MS is, in general, a rLungâMKhrispa disorder in women and a Bad genâMKhrispa disorder in men, with rLungâMKhrispa excess in both genders during exacerbation, inflammation, and demyelination. Studying Tibetan medicine in its traditional context will create an integrative model for the treatment of MS and other chronic conditions.
Medicinal plant formulations have been used in traditional medicines for thousands of years. Plant-based medicine is still a major source of new drug leads and herbal treatments are highly lucrative in the international marketplace. The intellectual property issues for medicinal plant formulas are complicated for numerous reasons. Many of the patents are attempting to emulate the pharmaceutical model of composition patents that as we will discuss, is usually not an appropriate approach for medicinal plants. This paper does not seek to be an exhaustive review but rather provide an overview of the many aspects of medicinal plant patents, a topic of considerable future growth. Our experience has been that the merging of modern and traditional knowledge leads to unexpected correlations, elucidations and insights with tremendous potential for patentable discovery. A continuation of the dialogue on indigenous intellectual property rights will benefit from the inclusion of an increased diversity of voices that have the ability to recognize the mutual and often complementary abilities of traditional and modern sciences. The question is not how to simplify the complexity but rather how to embrace the complexity from the traditional medicine worldview with the tools of science.
Sman pa grwa tshang refers to Tibetan medical schools attached to Tibetan Buddhist monasteries (basically of the Gelugpa sect), which is a comprehensive institution devoted to medical education, clinic treatment and medicinal production. It has played a significant role in the training of medical professionals, and is itself an embodiment and outgrowth of the further institutionalization and systematization of the monastery educational system after the establishment of Gelugpa sect in the 15(th) century. The model of Sman pa grwa tshang first took shape from the famous Chagpori Grophangling, established in Lhasa by Desi Sanggy Gyamtso (Tib: Sde srid sangs rgyas rgya mtso 1653-1705) in 1696. Later, the model spread to Amdo, Mongolian areas and China's cities like Beijing and Chengde where almost a hundred Sman pa grwa tshangs were set up successively. The emergence of Sman pa grwa tshangs played a significant role in the transmission and development of Tibetan medicine.
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