New Delhi, March 17 (IANS) Tibet contains the 'elixir of Indo-Buddhist philosophical traditions' and its culture needs preservation if the repository of that priceless wisdom is not to be lost forever, says noted American Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman.

He also said Tibet, which is now under Chinese rule, should be handed back to the Tibetan people because its environment is increasingly becoming fragile and only they can conserve it.

He said Tibet contained the 'elixir of Indo-Buddhist philosophical traditions' that dated back thousands of years to Nalanda, the world's oldest university that existed in what is today the Bihar state in India, and its culture needed preservation if the repository of that priceless wisdom was not to be lost forever.

He was speaking at a talk titled 'Why Tibet Matters' late Tuesday at the India Habitat Centre in the capital.

Thurman, who is close to the Dalai Lama, said Chinese paranoia about the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader was difficult to fathom as he never advocated any extremist solution but advocated a 'middle path' that gave Tibet autonomy while allowing it to retain its unique culture and way of life.

Thurman, who has authored, edited and translated several books on Tibetan Buddhism, is the professor of Indo-Tibetan studies at Columbia university.

He said what the Chinese instead were doing was 'colonising' Tibet, destroying its religion and culture and seeking its assimilation and homogenisation with the Han Chinese majority.

'Tibet should be made into something like an international environmental park. Many rivers in Asia originate in the Tibetan plateau and support hundreds of millions of people downstream, but its environment is now becoming very fragile thanks to major deforestation,' Thurman said.

'Therefore, besides other reasons, Tibet should be handed back to its people because they will know how to conserve their land and the environment,' he added.

'There is a lot of mismanagement in Tibet - mass scale deforestation and desertification of grasslands - by China. It should be conserved and eco-tourism should be given a boost. The world will then see Tibet as the Switzerland of Asia and give a boost to the economy as well,' he said.