Kunchok Palzang

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Kunchok Palzang is an innovative and dynamic Tibetan conservationist, photographer and powerful speaker from Ngawa who has been working in the field to build sustainable Tibetan communities and promote environmental conservation in eastern Tibet. For many years, he has worked closely with pastoral communities on environmental issues such as desertification, climate change, waste management, water protection and more. Nature is a central element of traditional Tibetan culture and that has played a key role in his work. Through his efforts, Palzang has been successful in preserving Tibetan cultural traditions and institutions, all the while promoting environmental restoration. He partners successfully with other local environmental organizations to create community-based and sustainable approaches to change people’s environmental protection attitudes and practices, and to explore ways to address present environmental problems and future needs. Palzang’s work has been documented in a short film, Palzang the Herdsman, that won the Golden Award for best documentary at the 2015 Handle Climate Change Film Festival in Shenzhen. Machik first worked with Palzang in 2005 when he was a volunteer at the Chungba Primary School.  In January 2012, Machik hosted a salon featuring an exceptionally informative and inspiring presentation by Palzang on conservation, focusing on reversing desertification in his home county in Tibet.  In 2015, Palzang was the Machik Global Innovation Fellow. He presented a very well-received keynote address at Machik Weekend at Fordham Univeristy in New York City.

BEFORE: APRIL 2012

AFTER: AUGUST 2012