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

<strong>and</strong> entrepreneurship. Today’s mountain pastoralism is, on the one h<strong>and</strong>, a
livestock-based activity <strong>and</strong> related to different localities connected through
mobility. On the other h<strong>and</strong>, significant incomes are derived from other local
<strong>and</strong> non-local sources, often surpassing the amount generated from pastoralism.
In future, part of pastoralists’ income may be derived from payment for
ecological services that are provided by pastoralists as l<strong>and</strong>scape managers for
the maintenance of fragile environments <strong>and</strong> rewarding sustainable stocking
practices. Pastoral practices reflect adaptive strategies that respond to the
ecological, socio-economic <strong>and</strong> political environment over time, thus giving
insights into path-dependent developments in remote mountain areas.
1 Introduction
<strong>Pastoralism</strong> is often regarded as a marginal form of spatial utilisation in deserts,
steppes <strong>and</strong> mountain ranges. The Inner Asian vast tracts constitute such an
area, of which China controls a major share (Figure 1). Three quarters of all
rangel<strong>and</strong>s are located in the semi-arid, sparsely settled areas of the north <strong>and</strong>
west of the PR of China. Out of China’s 400 million hectares of rangel<strong>and</strong>,
140 million are to be found in mountainous regions of the Tibetan Plateau;
in addition there are 57 million hectares of natural pasture in Xinjiang. Thus
both areas – in general suitable for pastoral activities – comprise about one fifth
of China’s l<strong>and</strong> area. Close to 40 million people live in 260 predominantly
pastoral counties. 29 The livelihoods of their less affluent citizens are strongly
related to the natural resources of the rangel<strong>and</strong>s. About five million pastoralists
<strong>and</strong> combined mountain farmers make a living on the Tibetan Plateau by
keeping twelve million yaks <strong>and</strong> thirty million sheep <strong>and</strong> goats. 30 In an ecological
definition the Tibetan steppe covers 165 million hectares equalling more
than two fifths of China’s grazing areas. 31 Pastoralists are significantly affected
in their survival strategies when environmental changes <strong>and</strong> social transformations
alter their resource base. In reverse, lowl<strong>and</strong> communities might be
significantly affected when environmental degradation endangers the expected
release of water from Himalayan glaciers, when the biological diversity of plant
29 Miller 2002: 22, Tashi et al. 2010: 54–55.
30 Sheehy, Miller <strong>and</strong> Johnson 2006: 143. Out of approximately sixteen million yaks worldwide,
about fifteen million are to be found in the PR of China, cf. Wiener, Han Jianlin
<strong>and</strong> Long Ruijun 2003.
31 The provincial share in grazing l<strong>and</strong>s of the Tibetan steppe comprises: 118.4 million
hectares in the Tibetan Autonomous Region <strong>and</strong> Qinghai, 15 million hectares in the
northern part of the Kun Lun Mountains of Xinjiang Uigur Autonomous Region, 14
million hectares in western Sichuan Province, 5 million hectares in northwestern Yunnan
Province, <strong>and</strong> 12 million hectares in western Gansu Province (Sheehy, Miller &
Johnson 2006: 143).
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