D-Starine Projects
Founding in 2005, D-Starine encourages and trains volunteers to serve on disaster relief projects and on community development and reconstruction programmes. It is committed to enhancing communication and promoting exchanges between urban youth and a variety of ethnic groups from all over the world. D-Starine has cooperated with Plateau Perspectives since 2010.
For many years, D-Starine provided tourism development support services mainly in Qinghai province, focused on Tibetan nomad communities with poor healthcare systems, limited education, and largely under-developed economies. D-Starine encourages its volunteers to serve people in these areas by organising expeditions. The NGO also promotes public interest and raises support through lectures and presentations at universities as well as through programs focused on inspiring people to join and contribute to service-oriented activities.
D-Starine raises funds separately for its programs to ensure that 100% of donations are used for programs, while overhead and operational costs are funded separately.
Video 1 (5 minutes) Video 2 (20 minutes)
Protection from human-wildlife conflict with brown bear (Longbao)
The main approach adopted by D-Starine to mitigate human-wildlife conflict with brown bears has been the purchase and distribution (and breeding) of pedigree shepherd dogs to provide to Tibetan herdsmen. Shepherding dogs typically increase pasturing efficiency and give birth to approximately six pups a year, which provides supplementary income for families that receive the dogs. If the family cannot find buys, D-Starine will repurchase the dogs to gift to other herdsman. Facebook.
Ecotourism and rafting on the plateau (Longbao, Qilian, Nyingchi)
D-Starine started to cooperate with Plateau Perspective in 2013 with the development of adventure and rafting tourism on the Tibetan plateau. These programmes are still being implemented and expanded:
- Regular training is being provided by the Shining Light & Sea Wind Rafting Club on the plateau, in Longbao County
- A worldwide rafting contest was held in Yushu in 2016.
- In 2016 D-Starine began cooperation with the New Land Club (a famous outdoors club in China) to establish a new ecological rafting club in the Qilian Mountains, with Tibetan rafting guides from the Yushu area train guides from the Qilian mountain region.
Snow leopard monitoring (Longbao, Qilian)
In Anchong village of Longbao district of Yushu county, villagers are often capturing photographs of snow leopard on their phones and submitting reports to D-Starine, confirming their presence and relative abundance in the region. D-Starine also is helping to confirm the presence of endangered wildlife including snow leopard in the forests and mountains of the Qilian mountain range. Through wildlife reconnaisance missions and trainings, D-Starine is thus helping herdsmen to serve as observers and wildlife rangers across the province.
Raptor protection / snowy owl monitoring (Longbao, Hulunbuir)
D-Starine equally is conducting wildlife missions with a focus on raptors (birds of prey), training herdsmen to monitor raptor populations and to serve as rangers. A participatory study of the lammergeyer (bearded vulture) is underway in Longbao district. The snowy owl, prairie vultures and several raptors and seasonal birds are investigated in the Hulunbeir region of Inner Mongolia.
Grassland fencing (Qinghai Lake area)
In June and July 2016, D-Starine launched a scientific study around Qinghai Lake, on horseback, with 38 people involved. This exploratory research covered the ecological impact of fencing and the relationship between people and snow leopard habitat. The popularisation of science and environmental education for teenagers also were advanced through this work. Two Tongji University professors provided overall guidance for project development, along with Gongbo Tashi (Plateau Perspectives) and Du Fachun (Yunnan University).
