1. What is the connection between the nomads and yaks? And between yaks and the grasslands?
2. What threats are there to the grassland eco-system of the Tibetan plateau?
3. Why are Tibetan nomads and their yaks being blamed for deterioration of grassland quality? How do climate change factors enter the picture?
4. What is the Chinese attitude toward Tibetan nomads?
5. What are the motives behind China's forcible settlement of Tibetan nomads on such a huge scale?
6. What happens when nomads are forced to settle and move into villages or towns?
7. What is the situation with the teaching and use of the Tibetan language within Tibet?
8. What is happening to the great store of knowledge accumulated from centuries of pastoral nomadism in Tibet?
9. Do the nomads have any say in policy concerning the land and the environment?
10. What happens if nomads try to mount protests?
11. Where have all the yaks gone?

Big Questions

1. What is the Chinese spin on newly created nature reserves and protected areas of the Tibetan plateau?
2. What mining and dam-building activity is going on in former nomad lands?
3. Should grasslands management be entrusted to the current Chinese regime?
4. What happened to the grasslands in Chinese-controlled Mongolia?
5. Why are the grasslands turning into desert?
6. How important are the grasslands of Tibet as a carbon sink?
7. What does the future hold for the vast grasslands of Tibet?