The Pendeba Society

"Pendeba" is a Tibetan term referring to volunteer community-service workers.

The Pendeba Society, founded in 2009, is the first non-profit organization to be created in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It is registered in the Civil Affairs Bureau of the Shigatse Prefecture Government with support from the Management Bureau of the Qomolangma (Mt. Everest) National Nature Preserve (QNNP). It is also one of the few groups that are able to do survey work at the community level in the QNNP region. The Pendeba Society is the local incarnation of a program begun in 1994 by Future Generations, an international NGO focusing on conservation and community development. The earlier Pendeba Program was developed in response to the growing need for local participation in the protection of the Qomolangma National Nature Preserve in the Mt. Everest region. The program was part of a new approach to protected area management that saw local inhabitants of the newly created protection zone trained to be preserve wardens. In 1989, the QNNP was the first national park in Asia to integrate conservation with development.

We are currently working on projects that attempt to enhance vocational education within local communities in QNNP, promote sustainable rural development in the Mt. Everest region, empower local women, and strengthen civil society in the Tibet Autonomous Region. For more information, please kindly consult our website at www.pendeba.org.