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Profound changes in the last four decades in China has greatly affected traditional Tibetan pastoral
production systems. The Chinese government is implementing an ambitious rangeland intensification
scheme throughout the Plateau in response to perceived rangeland degradation. Traditional
production systems have been altered ever since the Collective period of the 60’s and 70’s, but
now, once communally managed rangelands are being “privatized” under the Household
Responsibility System. In one such programme in Western Sichuan, the government provides aid to
settle nomads by providing a house, a barn, fenced pasture, and artificial grassland, on a 50 year
lease. These changes have far-reaching implications for pastoralism in the future. On the one hand,
settlement and intensively managed livestock production brings improved access and services to
previously remote nomadic areas. In contrast, it can have negative effects in terms of biodiversity
conservation and social cohesion. Accompanying settlement is a corresponding reduction in the
spatial mobility of livestock herds which means more condensed grazing pressures on residual open
areas, thus reducing plant species diversity and productivity. This is exacerbated by climate change
in the region. In addition, the allocation process has led to social conflicts, a breakdown of
traditional institutions, and a deepening division between rich and poor, as wealthier nomads can
more easily acquire inputs. Communal rangeland management systems are recommended as an
alternative to “privatization” through collaboration with government agencies responsible for land
management. However, collaboration requires fundamental changes in policy, primarily assuring
secure tenure to communal groups, and providing legitimate legal rights and support to local
institutions. It also requires more inclusive, participatory methods of rangeland research and
planning, that translate directly into management action.
(source: abstract)