Pastoralism and Rangeland Management on the Tibetan Plateau in ...

The rights <strong>and</strong> responsibilities of tourism development <strong>and</strong> ecological protection
are not yet clearly defined. The current situation is not conducive to improving
the ecological protection of the scenic spots <strong>and</strong> may lead to serious pollution.
The division of the management <strong>and</strong> development rights <strong>and</strong> responsibilities
is unclear between the Tourism Bureau, L<strong>and</strong> Planning Authority <strong>and</strong> the
Environmental Protection Agency of different counties. Controversies about
tourism revenue distribution have risen among different villages. Although the
pastoralists located in the scenic spots obtain a substantial increase in income
through leasing their l<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> houses <strong>and</strong> running tourism-based businesses,
the herdsmen who live outside or far away from the scenic spots fail to obtain
such benefits due to travel restrictions <strong>and</strong> limited exposure. This has lead to
a conflict of interests <strong>and</strong> constant disputes between pastoralists living within
<strong>and</strong> outside of the scenic areas.
4.2 Poor infrastructure restricts the effectiveness of resource allocation
in the Namtso Scenic Area
Since the development of the NSA, we have not been able to meet the growing
tourism needs, although infrastructure in the scenic area is constantly improving.
During the peak seasons <strong>and</strong> holidays, the existing roads, parking lots,
accommodation <strong>and</strong> water facilities are highly stressed. Tourists have a hard
time finding <strong>and</strong> getting the services they need <strong>and</strong> operators cannot maximize
their income due to insufficient capacity. In particular, power supply is a big
problem. Hotels usually rely on a small generators or solar power, as regular
power is generally cut off at about eleven o’clock at night. The lack of basic
infrastructure, <strong>and</strong> the poor quality of what is there, has led to poor st<strong>and</strong>ards
<strong>and</strong> quality of services, resulting in the loss of tourists. Consequently, pastoralists
find it more difficult to increase their incomes, affecting sustainable
economic development in pastoral areas.
4.3 Limited mindset of pastoralists is restricting an enthusiasm to
participate in the tourism market
Herders of Tashi Duo Isl<strong>and</strong> generally have a low level of education <strong>and</strong> training,
limiting the quality of their services. Through field visits to pastoralists <strong>and</strong>
the relevant administrative departments, we found that only a few pastoralists
of Dabney Village went to school at all, with the rest of the population being
illiterate. We interviewed three local “experts of getting rich”, <strong>and</strong> none of them
had any formal schooling. They leaned a few Tibetan letters at an evening course
<strong>and</strong> picked up some simple Chinese phrases in the course of doing business
with tourists. As a result of their limited linguistic capabilities, they can only
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> > > 3. Eco-tourism <strong>and</strong> Nature Protection in Relation to <strong>Pastoralism</strong> <strong>and</strong> Rangel<strong>and</strong> <strong>Management</strong>