http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/magazine/11may08/inner.htm#1
Conserving Black-necked cranes
S. D. Singh Jamwal
A weekend in the heart of Lutyen’s Delhi few days back was totally nostalgic as it brought back the memories of beautiful days spent in majestic Ladakh. Not only that, but the occasion was also to meet a lot of people from Jammu and Kashmir, especially Ladakh with whom I was closely associated during my two year tenure as the district police chief, Leh. It was a two-day regional workshop on “Crane Calling : Regional Cooperation for Conservation of Black-necked Crane” organized by World Wild Fund for Nature-India (WWF) and co-organized by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and Indian Bird Conservation Network (IBCN), that brought all of us together. This workshop assumed much importance as for the first time, three countries India, China and Bhutan came together to save the black necked crane.
Having braved two harsh winters in Ladakh and travelling in the entire length and breadth of the cold desert in those two years which actually made me fall in love with this region, I not only extensively research on the rock art of Ladakh besides coming out with a book on this high altitude region, but I also got the rare opportunity to see this majestic species called the Black-necked Crane, in the Changthang area during many of my summer visits to Nyoma, Hanle and even Chushul. What had fascinated me about this creature was the fact that it travelled long distances to come to Eastern Ladakh for breeding activity. In fact, Eastern Ladakh is the only known breeding population of black necked crane outside China.
Highly venerated species among Ladakhi Buddhist community, the Black Necked Crane is a mystic, mysterious but critically endangered species. It is listed as ‘Vulnerable’ in IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species and represents the fragility of this high altitude ecosystem. As it finds place in the list of 155 critically endangered bird species worldwide, every effort needs to be taken to ensure that this species which is the star species of high altitude wetlands survives.
For hundreds of Buddhists in Ladakh, the bird is a symbol of spring, hope and resilience as after severe drab winter in Ladakh, the sighting of this migratory bird brings happiness in the lives of Ladakhis. But the bird, as already mentioned, is critically endangered. Pankaj Chandan tells me that only 73 birds and 11 chicks were spotted in Ladakh last year. This is the only species that has eluded man’s scrutiny and has retained its age-old aura of mystery and charm. This is not surprising indeed since it inhabits a region that has been one of the earth’s most physically impenetrable one. There is also a mystery over the fact that where does it go after leaving Ladakh in the severe harshest cold months. Not much research has been conducted in this area and it is still not been unveiled and not much is known about the lifecycle and winter habitat of the bird.
In this backdrop, an invitation from a dear friend of mine Mr. Pankaj Chandan who has extensively worked on Black Necked Crane in Ladakh and is WWF-India’s Programme Manager, High Altitude Wetlands Conservation Programme, based in Ladakh, was indeed a rare chance to revisit the bird again and there I was at the Lodhi Road headquarters of World Wide Fund for Nature- India to attend the workshop.
Black necked cranes - the last of the world's cranes to be discovered by the scientific community in the North Eastern Tibet in1876, are the highly endangered species in the world. It is found mainly in three countries-India, China and Bhutan, mainly in the Tibetan Plateau from eastern Ladakh to northern Sichuan province in China. Black-necked Crane was first reported from Ladakh in 1919 by a naturalist F. Ludlow at Tsokar during a bird collection trip. The latest census data reveals that the total population of Black-necked Crane is around 11,000. In the recent years, winter counts of Black-necked Crane were conducted throughout its wintering range and research focusing on habitat selection, food, time budget and territories during winter have been carried out. While more birds and new wintering grounds have been located in the last four decades, actual population of this species still remains vulnerable. Wetlands are very important for this species for roosting and foraging; the Crane almost exclusively roost in wetlands, although the significance of wetlands varies from site to site. In wintering grounds, where farming activities are extensive, wetlands for the Crane have been extensively affected by the habitat loss and degradation. Because of the significance of wetlands and the pressure on the species from agricultural activities vary from site to site, more studies need to be done to make comparisons among wintering areas, and between wintering and breeding areas.
The primary objective of the workshop which brought India, China and Bhutan together to save the bird, was to facilitate knowledge-sharing and information exchange among conservation experts on the Black-necked Crane, to foster international cooperation among India, China and Bhutan, and to explore the opportunities of community exchange programmes between these countries.
“The Himalayan high altitude wetlands are crucial breeding grounds for migratory birds like the Black-necked Crane found in small numbers and very restricted areas. To protect these magnificent birds, it is imperative to protect their habitat. Culturally, this bird not only represents fidelity but has now become a fantastic symbol of international cooperation and peace between every country it befriends,” said Mr. Ravi Singh, Secretary General and CEO, WWF-India.
“Besides we want to use this species as a vehicle for International Cooperation between India, China and Bhutan and spread the message of peace and harmony through birds for whom man-made boundaries do not matter at all,” informed Mr Pankaj Chandan who has undertaken extensive field study in all the three regions of India (Ladakh), China and Bhutan on Black Necked crane and pursuing his doctoral research on this bird. The same feelings were also echoed by the Union minister for Environment and Forests Mr. Jairam Ramesh who, while inaugurating the workshop, said that the conservation of the Black-necked crane can not only save the endangered species but can also boost regional cooperation and forge strong bonds between various neighbouring countries. He termed it ‘a very rare opportunity’ that for the first time trilateral cooperation in terms of India, China & Bhutan’s coming together to save the endangered Black-necked Crane at one platform.
Perhaps very few people, both from within and outside the state, know that this creature is the state bird of Jammu and Kashmir. Even for Mr. Jairam Ramesh, it was also a revelation. He said this majestic species represents best example what regional cooperation can do and that is the most important reason that why we should take the conservation of BNC very seriously. “These migratory birds recognise no boundaries hence it becomes all the more crucial to safeguard their shared habitats for the well being of the species and the ecosystem,” he said.
WWF-India is working on the conservation of Himalayan high altitude wetlands and its flagship species like the Black-necked Crane, snow leopard and Bar-headed Goose, which are threatened by increasing anthropogenic pressure, unplanned development and unsustainable tourism, informed Archan Chatteerjee.
The workshop provided a platform for presentations and collective discussions on the status, threats and conservation efforts made so far, as well as, the potential strategies to safeguard migratory birds like the Black-necked Crane during their breeding and nesting seasons. This also included habitat modeling, mapping of migratory route and flyways and formulation of new action plans and recommendations. The concerns and conservation plans adopted by the Indian States of Ladakh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, and countries like China and Bhutan were also discussed.
The workshop recommendations focused on the requirement of more regional cooperation in order to conduct coordinated surveys and scientific research such as telemetry studies which will help us learn more about the habitat ecology of the species, the need to standardize data collection, and a thrust on education and awareness for different stakeholders. It is also envisaged to initiate the development of a Single Species Action Plan under the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and the East Asian – Australasian Flyway Partnership. Further, Bhutan and India were encouraged to join this partnership.
Some other recommendations included strengthening monitoring of the population of Black-necked Crane and other waterbirds in the high altitude wetlands through their inclusion in the Asian Waterbird Census and Important Bird Areas monitoring programmes; establishment of regional information centre for Black-necked Crane; realignment (as in Bhutan) of power lines and removal of wire fences and plantations in and around wetlands used by the Black-necked Crane to reduce mortality. Human made structures harming birds. No new plantations; strengthened management and scientific restoration (according to international guidelines to maintain the ecological character) of wetlands of national and international importance for the Black-necked Crane including traditional rangeland management practices.
(The writer is a J&K cadre IPS officer)
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
The Caravans of the Silk Road
http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/magazine/11jan16/inner.htm#1
The old silk road
S.D.Singh Jamwal
Ladakh, a vast landmass with peculiar landscape, environment, religion and culture, surely stands out to be the first choice of any adventure loving traveler and serious researcher. Due to the mountainous terrain, Ladakh is cut through by valleys and river systems creating smaller sub-regions. These sub-regions have their substantial contrasting geographic and climatic conditions that have impact on the life and livelihood of its inhabitants. Thus all the regions of Ladakh have their own unique identity. Each forms an ethnic cluster with varied dialect and customs. On the Northern side of Ladakh falls the Nubra valley which runs almost parallel to Indus valley. On the eastern side are the high-altitude plains of Changthang and on the southern side is the secluded valley of Zanskar. The western side is the valley of Lower Ladakh which is greener and warmer than the rest of Ladakh.
Opened up for the tourists only in year 1994, Nubra valley is situated to the north of Leh across Ladakh range which one crosses via Khardong-la, the highest motorable road in the world. To the north the valley is walled by the mighty Karakoram Range. The valley of Nubra is narrower than that of Leh with wide plain river-bed, through which the river Shayok flows meandering. Nubra served as the connection point between Central Asia and South Asia when the famous Silk Road was in use. The sixty-day journey on the Ladakh route connecting Amritsar and Yarkand through eleven passes was frequently undertaken by traders till the third quarter of the 19th century. It was from Nubra valley that this route traversing two major passes in the Karakoram Range connected Kashgar on the famous Silk Route. These once formidable passes, during the ‘Great Game’ period were seen by some Britishers as back-door route into India by the Russians, in the late nineteenth century. As recently as 1950a traveler wrote: ‘Never once until we reached the plains were we out of sight of skeletons. The continuous line of bones and bodies acted as a gruesome guide whenever we were uncertain of the route.’ In The Lion River, a history of the exploration of the Indus River, Jean Fairley writes: ‘Nothing grows along the Karakoram route and the traveler must carry all the food he needs for himself and his beasts. Pack animals, overloaded with trading goods at the expense of fodder, have died in this pass in their millions.’ However, this route was never a usual threat of invasion, as the principal gateway leading to British India was Herat and Kabul.
Leh as an important commercial entrepot, situated as it was at the centre of a network of routes from the Punjab (Amritsar and Hoshiarpur), Kashmir (Srinagar), Baltistan (Skardu), eastern Central Asia or Xinjiang (Kashgar, Yarkand and Khotan) and Tibet (Gartok and Lhasa), was not precisely on the path of the famous Silk Road.
Although one of the oldest of the world’s greatest highways, the Silk Road acquired this evocative name comparatively recently, the phrase coined by a German scholar, Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen, in eighteenth century. However, it was Chang Ch’ien, a Chinese traveler who is said to be the father of the Silk Road. He traveled, a century before the birth of Christ, to the west including Samarkand, Bokhara, Balkh and learned of existence of distant places like Persia and Rome etc.
A little misleading name, for not only did this great caravan route across China, Central Asia and the Middle East consisted of a number of roads, but it also carried a good deal more than just silk. The road started from Ch’ang-an, present-day Sian, and struck north-westwards, passing through the Kansu corridor to the oasis of Tun-huang in the Gobi desert. Further passing through Jade Gate or Yu-men-kuan it bifurcated around the Taklamakan desert with both the routes rejoining at the foothills of the T’ien Shan at Kashgar. It then continued westward, in the Pamir, the ‘Roof of the World’ into the Soviet Central Asia, right up to Mediterranean coast via Khokand, Samarkand, Bokhara, Persia and Iraq. There were many feeder routes. One of such important feeder roads originated from the southern end at Yarkand which after passing through the Karakoram pass, the ‘Gates of India’, reached Leh and Srinagar (Kashmir). At Yarkand caravans would branch to India (via Ladakh) or proceed to Afghanistan.
Silk Road could have probably gained its traffic during China’s ‘Golden Age’ during T’ang Dynasty (618-907 AD). As the traffic on the Silk Road increased, the oasis towns on this route flourished and began to rank as important trading centres in their own right and no longer remained merely a staging and refueling posts for the caravans passing through it. Some even gained sway over others. In the central part, ceaseless struggle ensued between the Chinese traders and elements who threatened this economic artery of the region. There were barbarian tribes, warlords and looters, all eying on the shares of trade, even at the cost of plundering the entire caravan including exterminating the traders. As the security of the caravans came under increasing threat from these pirates, many of these flourishing oases, particularly after the T’ang dynasty, declined and even disappeared completely including many Buddhist monasteries, temples and buildings with magnificent art. Many were engulfed by the sand of Taklamakan. By fifteenth century, most of the oases were converted to Islam. Travelers however, rarely traveled throughout the length of about nine thousand miles. Things were bartered or sold in the towns on the way. The China- bound caravans were laden with gold and other valuable metals, woolen and linen textiles, ivory, coral, amber, precious stones, asbestos and glass. From China caravans bore furs, ceramics, iron, lacquer, cinnamon bark, rhubarb, bronze objects, weapons and mirrors.
From Leh, the winter route to Yarkand, also called the Zamistan, took the Digar La or the Chang La, and followed the narrow and winding valley of the Shayok, negotiable in that season when the river ran low due to the intense cold. After crossing the Karakoram pass, traders would start the descent towards Yarkand, following the course of the Yarkand River and passing through Kugiar and Karghalik (estimated 530 miles). Mir Izzet Ullah travelled by this route in 1812 and was the first to publish some details about it. The summer route or Tabistan, via Nubra, crossed a total of six passes: Khardong La, Thulanbuti La, Saser La, and the Karakoram, Suget and Sanju Pass (estimated 480 miles). Another route, via Chang La, the Chang Chenmo valley and the Lingzi Thang plains joined the summer route at Shahidulla (estimated 506 miles), but this was not in regular use. A possible route through Baltistan seems to have been in occasional use in the 17th century, but the glaciers of the central Karakoram made it unsuitable as a regular trade route. Ladakh did not produce substantial article of trade apart from pashmina and apricot. Among the commodities traded through Ladakh were saffron, spices, opium, cannabis, pashm, shawls, carpets, tea, tobacco, yambo (silver ingots), gold, felts, silk, leather, wool, brocades, velvets, precious stones and horses. In the 1860s Britishers saw brisk traffic on Ladakh-Yarkand road and even sent men to map out the region on the other side. The route was in use till 1940s. However, in 1949, China closed the border between Nubra and Xinjiang, blocking old trade routes including Silk route.
(The author is an IPS officer)
The old silk road
S.D.Singh Jamwal
Ladakh, a vast landmass with peculiar landscape, environment, religion and culture, surely stands out to be the first choice of any adventure loving traveler and serious researcher. Due to the mountainous terrain, Ladakh is cut through by valleys and river systems creating smaller sub-regions. These sub-regions have their substantial contrasting geographic and climatic conditions that have impact on the life and livelihood of its inhabitants. Thus all the regions of Ladakh have their own unique identity. Each forms an ethnic cluster with varied dialect and customs. On the Northern side of Ladakh falls the Nubra valley which runs almost parallel to Indus valley. On the eastern side are the high-altitude plains of Changthang and on the southern side is the secluded valley of Zanskar. The western side is the valley of Lower Ladakh which is greener and warmer than the rest of Ladakh.
Opened up for the tourists only in year 1994, Nubra valley is situated to the north of Leh across Ladakh range which one crosses via Khardong-la, the highest motorable road in the world. To the north the valley is walled by the mighty Karakoram Range. The valley of Nubra is narrower than that of Leh with wide plain river-bed, through which the river Shayok flows meandering. Nubra served as the connection point between Central Asia and South Asia when the famous Silk Road was in use. The sixty-day journey on the Ladakh route connecting Amritsar and Yarkand through eleven passes was frequently undertaken by traders till the third quarter of the 19th century. It was from Nubra valley that this route traversing two major passes in the Karakoram Range connected Kashgar on the famous Silk Route. These once formidable passes, during the ‘Great Game’ period were seen by some Britishers as back-door route into India by the Russians, in the late nineteenth century. As recently as 1950a traveler wrote: ‘Never once until we reached the plains were we out of sight of skeletons. The continuous line of bones and bodies acted as a gruesome guide whenever we were uncertain of the route.’ In The Lion River, a history of the exploration of the Indus River, Jean Fairley writes: ‘Nothing grows along the Karakoram route and the traveler must carry all the food he needs for himself and his beasts. Pack animals, overloaded with trading goods at the expense of fodder, have died in this pass in their millions.’ However, this route was never a usual threat of invasion, as the principal gateway leading to British India was Herat and Kabul.
Leh as an important commercial entrepot, situated as it was at the centre of a network of routes from the Punjab (Amritsar and Hoshiarpur), Kashmir (Srinagar), Baltistan (Skardu), eastern Central Asia or Xinjiang (Kashgar, Yarkand and Khotan) and Tibet (Gartok and Lhasa), was not precisely on the path of the famous Silk Road.
Although one of the oldest of the world’s greatest highways, the Silk Road acquired this evocative name comparatively recently, the phrase coined by a German scholar, Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen, in eighteenth century. However, it was Chang Ch’ien, a Chinese traveler who is said to be the father of the Silk Road. He traveled, a century before the birth of Christ, to the west including Samarkand, Bokhara, Balkh and learned of existence of distant places like Persia and Rome etc.
A little misleading name, for not only did this great caravan route across China, Central Asia and the Middle East consisted of a number of roads, but it also carried a good deal more than just silk. The road started from Ch’ang-an, present-day Sian, and struck north-westwards, passing through the Kansu corridor to the oasis of Tun-huang in the Gobi desert. Further passing through Jade Gate or Yu-men-kuan it bifurcated around the Taklamakan desert with both the routes rejoining at the foothills of the T’ien Shan at Kashgar. It then continued westward, in the Pamir, the ‘Roof of the World’ into the Soviet Central Asia, right up to Mediterranean coast via Khokand, Samarkand, Bokhara, Persia and Iraq. There were many feeder routes. One of such important feeder roads originated from the southern end at Yarkand which after passing through the Karakoram pass, the ‘Gates of India’, reached Leh and Srinagar (Kashmir). At Yarkand caravans would branch to India (via Ladakh) or proceed to Afghanistan.
Silk Road could have probably gained its traffic during China’s ‘Golden Age’ during T’ang Dynasty (618-907 AD). As the traffic on the Silk Road increased, the oasis towns on this route flourished and began to rank as important trading centres in their own right and no longer remained merely a staging and refueling posts for the caravans passing through it. Some even gained sway over others. In the central part, ceaseless struggle ensued between the Chinese traders and elements who threatened this economic artery of the region. There were barbarian tribes, warlords and looters, all eying on the shares of trade, even at the cost of plundering the entire caravan including exterminating the traders. As the security of the caravans came under increasing threat from these pirates, many of these flourishing oases, particularly after the T’ang dynasty, declined and even disappeared completely including many Buddhist monasteries, temples and buildings with magnificent art. Many were engulfed by the sand of Taklamakan. By fifteenth century, most of the oases were converted to Islam. Travelers however, rarely traveled throughout the length of about nine thousand miles. Things were bartered or sold in the towns on the way. The China- bound caravans were laden with gold and other valuable metals, woolen and linen textiles, ivory, coral, amber, precious stones, asbestos and glass. From China caravans bore furs, ceramics, iron, lacquer, cinnamon bark, rhubarb, bronze objects, weapons and mirrors.
From Leh, the winter route to Yarkand, also called the Zamistan, took the Digar La or the Chang La, and followed the narrow and winding valley of the Shayok, negotiable in that season when the river ran low due to the intense cold. After crossing the Karakoram pass, traders would start the descent towards Yarkand, following the course of the Yarkand River and passing through Kugiar and Karghalik (estimated 530 miles). Mir Izzet Ullah travelled by this route in 1812 and was the first to publish some details about it. The summer route or Tabistan, via Nubra, crossed a total of six passes: Khardong La, Thulanbuti La, Saser La, and the Karakoram, Suget and Sanju Pass (estimated 480 miles). Another route, via Chang La, the Chang Chenmo valley and the Lingzi Thang plains joined the summer route at Shahidulla (estimated 506 miles), but this was not in regular use. A possible route through Baltistan seems to have been in occasional use in the 17th century, but the glaciers of the central Karakoram made it unsuitable as a regular trade route. Ladakh did not produce substantial article of trade apart from pashmina and apricot. Among the commodities traded through Ladakh were saffron, spices, opium, cannabis, pashm, shawls, carpets, tea, tobacco, yambo (silver ingots), gold, felts, silk, leather, wool, brocades, velvets, precious stones and horses. In the 1860s Britishers saw brisk traffic on Ladakh-Yarkand road and even sent men to map out the region on the other side. The route was in use till 1940s. However, in 1949, China closed the border between Nubra and Xinjiang, blocking old trade routes including Silk route.
(The author is an IPS officer)
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