Minority population and sustainable development in mountain regions a case study of the Tibetan inhabited region in Sichuan, China

摘要

China boasts 56 nationalities who are mostly inhabited in the sparsely populated mountain regions in West China. Like many other places in the Han nationality distributed regions, minority nationality inhabited regions are also facing the challenge of sustainable development in terms of both natural and human factors. Taking the Tibetan inhabited regions (TIR) in Sichuan Province as a case, this paper points out some major problems in the process of economic development in perspective of sustainability and leaves some hints for development strategies. While natural conditions such as geological instability are playing a major role to the environmental degradation, human activities and improper use of resources might constitute an important agent in the environmental deterioration. In order to promote local economic development and improve people’s living standard, sustainable planning is expected to be made and people’s awareness of sustainability should be strengthened.