Home > News Archive > Karmapa speaks for wildlife conservation

Karmapa speaks for wildlife conservation

By Lobsang Wangyal

The Karmapa speaking during a wildlife conservation awareness campaign at the Tibetan Children’s Village School in Dharamshala, India, on 29 June 2009. The Karmapa appealed to his fellow Tibetans not to harm wildlife and asked them to abstain from using animal skins in their clothing.Tibet Sun/Lobsang Wangyal/India

The Karmapa appealed to his fellow Tibetans not to harm wildlife and asked them to abstain from using animal skins in their clothing.

While expressing opposition towards using animal skins in their clothing, he said doing so was not according to Tibetan tradition.

Tibetans as Buddhists believe in the well-being of all the sentient beings, but the reality is that this is being neglected.

“We have no right to kill animals,” the Karmapa added. He was speaking to an audience of students of the Tibetan Children’s Village School.

The event was organised by Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and Care for the Wild International (CWI) aimed at spreading conservation awareness among Tibetans.

A documentary film about how the survival of the Tibetan antelope is being threatened due to trade in its wool was screened. The animal’s wool is used in making shatoosh shawls, which has become an unnecessary fashion statement for wealthy people.

Speaking about the danger of Tibetan antelope going extinct, Vice-chairman of WTI Ashok Kumar said, Tibetans can help stop the menace.

“The killings of the Tibetan antelope is taking place at the animal’s natural habitat in Tibet. If the killings could be stopped at the source, that will help stop the whole trade.”

Kumar sought the help of the Karmapa in spreading this message and requested all the Tibetans to do the same.

In 2006, a call by the Dalai Lama appealing to Tibetans to stop using animal skins in their clothing culminated in mass burning of animal skins in all over Tibet and in exile as well. The last mass skin burning reportedly occurred in April this year in Tibet.

The event was a part of the Tibetan Conservation Awareness Campaign (TCAC), a WTI-CWI joint project aimed at spreading conservation awareness among Tibetans.

The campaign was launched by the Dalai Lama on 6 April 2005, to address the involvement of Tibetans in wildlife crimes and the use of wildlife articles in Tibetan medicines and traditional dresses.

Over the years, Tibetan TCAC field officers have visited urban areas as well as remote rural areas to spread the message of conservation awareness among Tibetans. So far, the TCAC campaign has reached 53 Tibetan settlements, 68 schools and 106 monasteries across India, in addition to a few places in Nepal.

Copyright © 2009 Tibet Sun

Published in Tibet Sun