Grasslands of the World.pdf - Disasters and Conflicts - UNEP

DANIEL MILLER
The Tibetan Steppe 307
Plate 8.2
Wild ass (Equus kiang ).
Many major rivers originate in the Tibetan Steppe , including the Yellow,
Yangtze, Mekong, Salween, Indus, Sutlej, Ganges and Brahmaputra. The preservation
and management of these sources have global implications, as their
waters will be of increasing importance in the future. The challenges facing the
sustainable development of the steppe are considerable, but its pastures offer
numerous opportunities for achieving the twin objectives of conservation and
development of grassland resources . Properly managed, grazing lands can
continue to be sources of water, provide wildlife habitat , feed for livestock and
contribute to overall economic development of the region.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The Tibetan Steppe is on the Tibet -Qinghai plateau in the People’s Republic of
China and adjoining regions of Bhutan , Nepal and India . The Himalaya marks
its southern boundary; the Kunlun, Arjin and Qilian Mountains delineate the
northern boundary. The western limit is where the Himalaya, Karakoram,
Kunlun and Pamir Mountains meet. In the east, the boundary extends along
highlands in Qinghai, western Gansu and Sichuan and into northwestern
Yunnan. Encompassing about a quarter of China’s land, the plateau stretches
for almost 1 500 km north to south and for about 3 000 km from east to
west – the largest plateau on earth. Over 80 percent is above 3 000 m and about
half over 4 500 m (Schaller, 1998). The vegetation is mainly grazing land , which
is floristically distinctive, one of the largest of such ecosystems in the world
(Schaller, 1998); at about 165 million hectares, it is 42 percent of China’s grazing
area (Miller, 1999a). This vast grassland is here termed the Tibetan Steppe; it