Article: The Snow Leopard Queen - བདེ་ལེགས (Bayang)
The Snow Leopard Queen - བདེ་ལེགས (Bayang)
In 2023, Bayang, a sustainability advocate from the Tibet Plateau, was honored as one of BBC’s 100 Women, representing Tibetan women. This recognized her dedication to helping her community combat climate change and take meaningful action.
The Secret Corner
Bayang's "secret corner" was her diary. She recorded how the water sources grew shallower day by day, and how the wildflowers diminished year by year. What stung her most wasn't the changes she witnessed herself, but an entry from her younger sister, who continued her environmental diary: "A snow leopard ate five yaks in three days." The imbalance of the food chain was laid bare on the page in the cruelest way.
The Snow Leopard Queen
Since joining the environmental team, Bayang found a more lasting satisfaction—creation. She learned to make handmade soap from yak butter and milk. The first time she successfully created a soap with a snow leopard pattern, she excitedly sent a photo to her teacher and earned the nickname "Snow Leopard Queen."
Starting in July 2024, Bayang began learning to make eco-bags. At the time, her companions were all on leave, but she happened to catch the handicraft training and, alone, followed the teacher's guidance to take on this skill.
On this land closest to the sky, a nomadic girl proves in the most humble way: protecting one's homeland doesn't require grand speeches, just daily record-keeping, the repeated act of bending down to pick up trash, and a heart that simply will not give up.
On this land known as "China's Water Tower," the stories of young environmentalists are like woven prayer flags, whispering in the plateau wind: Some disappearances are being recorded. Some new beginnings are being created.
Simply doing. Simply guarding. Simply being here, in this moment—as silent as the snow mountains and as resilient as the grasslands.
Written by charuhimalaya
