Managing China's pastoral lands: Current problems and future prospects

Hua, Limin; Squires, Victor R.

doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2014.11.004

Cited by 98 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Our survey showed that SL herders and some WL herders state that technology was a constraint of their adoption. Few herders have access to any extension service or technology training Hua and Squires 2015). This suggests that more extension service and activities should be provided to educate SL herders of the benefits of WL, infrastructure requirements and the management strategies herders would require to adopt WL.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors affecting herder adoption of winter lambing practices in the desert steppe region of Inner Mongolia, China

Yin

Wang

et al. 2018

Rangel. J.

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Abstract. Although winter lambing practices (WL) have been shown to be a 'win-win' strategy for reducing the degradation of grasslands and improving herder livelihood in the pastoral regions of China, the adoption rate is still low. A survey was conducted to explore herders' opinions of WL and other factors which influenced the adoption in the desert steppe region of Inner Mongolia, China. Herders who have spring lambing practices generally hold unfavourable opinions about WL. Most have only heard about WL but did not understand the detailed information of implementation or how it increases income. Herder ethnical background, distance to market and neighbours' choices significantly affected the adoption rate. Han herders were more likely to adopt WL than Mongolian herders. Proximity to market led herders to be more market-focused and to adopt WL. Herders were more inclined to make the same choices as their neighbours. The results showed that herders were prepared to change and were carefully assessing the gains and losses of adopting WL. Results had implications for improving the adoption rate for WL and other livestock management practices in China.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors affecting herder adoption of winter lambing practices in the desert steppe region of Inner Mongolia, China

Yin

Wang

et al. 2018

Rangel. J.

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“…For the SMP, decisions about when and where to graze, and how to comply with regulations pertaining to the grazing restrictions or bans are left at the discretion of the herders (Hua and Squires, 2015). For those SMP herders who migrate to town, the outcome is very serious due to the transference of their grassland use rights to others.…”

Section: Social Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of social-ecological resilience between two grassland management patterns driven by grassland land contract policy in the Maqu, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Cao

Deo

et al. 2018

Land Use Policy

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Embraced for decision-making, resilience has evolved as a meaningful term in areas such as ecology, the economy and society. After a policy of grassland contracts was implemented on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, two grassland management patterns evolved: the multi-household management pattern (MMP) and the singlehousehold management pattern (SMP). Within a resilience-driven perspective, this study compared the outcomes of these grassland management patterns by measuring their effects on the resilience of grazing, ecological, economic and social systems. Resilience indicators for each of the four systems were: grazing system (grazing space, transhumance, water source and reproduction); ecological system (vegetation including cover, biomass, species richness and soil properties including pH, organic carbon, total nitrogen and total phosphorus); economic system (income, expenditure and infrastructure) and the social system (health, assistance, social relations, cultural inheritance and institutional arrangements). In order to provide a social-ecological resilience framework for the two grassland management patterns, a decision support tool was applied to approximately gauge the resilience of each indicator. The results showed that each of the four systems under the MMP had a greater degree of resilience than the SMP, and that the overall resilience of the MMP was estimated at 5.8 units compared to about −5.8 units for the SMP. The relative success of the MMP was seen to rest largely on the maintenance of traditional management practices, social networks, trust and the low cost and high efficiency of informal institutions, which acted to reduce the risk of unsustainable development of ecological and social systems. The important take-home lesson from this study is that contracting of grasslands to private entities on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, and in the rest of the world where similar land management practices exist, must be undertaken with caution.

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“…During the last decades in the Chinese part of the AltayDzungarian region, laws and policies were implemented to intensify livestock production while reducing the rate of land degradation (Brown et al 2008;Conte and Tilt 2014;Gongbuzeren et al 2015;Hua and Squires 2015). Measures directly affecting the transhumance systems included state-sponsored fencing programmes and regulations on herd management such as herd size and duration of pasture utilization (Brown et al 2008;Yeh 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Measures directly affecting the transhumance systems included state-sponsored fencing programmes and regulations on herd management such as herd size and duration of pasture utilization (Brown et al 2008;Yeh 2009). Other political programmes aimed at the settlement of pastoralists (Harris 2010;Hua and Squires 2015). Besides such planned interventions in the transhumance system, increasing urban expansion, intensified cropping and local mining activities progressively hamper the accessibility of rangeland (Squires et al 2009;Kreutzmann 2013a;Conte and Tilt 2014;Liao et al 2014b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatio-temporal patterns of herbage availability and livestock movements: A cross-border analysis in the Chinese-Mongolian Altay

et al. 2016

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Due to increasing population and the recent implementation of policies to intensify the use of land and water resources, the transhumant pastoral systems in the Chinese-Mongolian Altay-Dzungarian region are rapidly changing, leading to modifications of herd size, herd composition and spatial distribution of livestock grazing. This may have major consequences for the supply and quality of rangeland biomass. Despite similar topographic settings, the socio-political framework for Chinese and Mongolian pastoralists differs significantly, leading to differences in rangeland utilization. To substantiate these claims, the long-distance transhumance routes, frequency of pasture changes, daily grazing itineraries and size of pastures were recorded by means of GPS tracking of cattle and goats on 1,535 (China) and 1,396 (Mongolia) observation days. The status quo of the main seasonal pastures was captured by measuring the herbage offer and its nutritive value in 869 sampling spots. In the Altay-Dzungarian region, small ruminant herds covered up to 412 km (Mongolia) and grazed on up to nine pastures per year (China). In Mongolia, the herds' average duration of stay at an individual pasture was longer than in China, particularly in spring and autumn. Herbage allowance at the onset of a grazing period (kg dry matter per sheep unit and day) ranged from 34/17 to 91/95 (China/Mongolia). Comparing crude protein and phosphorous concentrations of herbage, in China, the highest concentrations were measured for spring and summer pastures, whereas in Mongolia, the highest concentrations were determined for autumn and winter pastures. Based on our data, we conclude that regulation of animal numbers and access to pastures seemingly maintained pasture productivity in China, especially at high altitudes. However, this policy may prohibit flexible adaptation to sudden environmental constraints. In contrast, high stocking densities and grazing of pastures before flowering of herbaceous plants negatively affected rangeland productivity in Mongolia, especially for spring and summer pastures.

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Managing China's pastoral lands: Current problems and future prospects

Cited by 98 publications

References 20 publications

Factors affecting herder adoption of winter lambing practices in the desert steppe region of Inner Mongolia, China

Factors affecting herder adoption of winter lambing practices in the desert steppe region of Inner Mongolia, China

Comparison of social-ecological resilience between two grassland management patterns driven by grassland land contract policy in the Maqu, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Spatio-temporal patterns of herbage availability and livestock movements: A cross-border analysis in the Chinese-Mongolian Altay

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