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

ile economies to settled farming <strong>and</strong> entrepreneurship. The co-existence of
both in Central Asian mountain regions <strong>and</strong> on the Tibetan Plateau reflects
the complementarities <strong>and</strong> interdependence: nomadism/pastoralism is not
feasible without exchange relations with farmers <strong>and</strong> markets. Nevertheless,
the altitudinal limits of habitations <strong>and</strong> the utilisation of marginal l<strong>and</strong>s
have significantly shifted towards high-altitude <strong>and</strong> arid areas. The extensive
utilisation of marginal resources has been superseded by intensification <strong>and</strong>
increasing external inputs. Thus, it is not surprising that mountain farmers <strong>and</strong>
pastoralists have been a prime target for “development”, which aims to reduce
subsistence levels by integrating people from the periphery into the mainstream
of nation states, thus endangering choice <strong>and</strong> transforming “traditional” lifestyles
<strong>and</strong> locally developed economic strategies. Presently, the modernisation
debate has opened up new avenues: Environmental protection, the security of
water sources, biological diversity, nature protection <strong>and</strong> attempts to reduce
overgrazing <strong>and</strong> environmental degradation are taken as strong arguments for
interfering in “traditional” pastoral activities. 40 Thus, modernisation theory
is applied in an environmentally-grounded framework that promises sustainable
development if change is brought about. The essential underst<strong>and</strong>ing of
modernisation-theory-inspired approaches is nevertheless taken from its very
core: Development is supposed to take place in urban settings; if rural communities
are to be integrated into mainstream society development, then two paths
are clearly visible <strong>and</strong> appear to be the outcome of planners’ logic: bringing
townships to the mountains or moving mountain dwellers <strong>and</strong> pastoralists to
the low-lying urban centres.
The two recently developed resettlement strategies show that in the 21st
century a renewed interest in pastoral areas has challenged regional planners
<strong>and</strong> policy-makers. As mentioned above, environmental <strong>and</strong> socio-economic
considerations form the background for huge investments that aim to reduce
the social gap between urban <strong>and</strong> rural communities, between city-dwellers
<strong>and</strong> pastoralists, <strong>and</strong> that are in tune with global <strong>and</strong> social change.
40 “… about a third of the rangel<strong>and</strong>s on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau are currently considered
moderately to severely degraded. In the Tibetan Autonomous Region, the percentage
of degraded rangel<strong>and</strong>s increased from 18 to 30 % of total area between 1980 <strong>and</strong> 1990.
Degradation is also a growing concern in Naqu Prefecture where degraded l<strong>and</strong> makes
up to 40 % of the total degraded rangel<strong>and</strong> in the entire Tibetan Autonomous Region.
Some Kobresia-dominated communities in alpine meadows of the Tibetan steppe have
deteriorated to such a degree that most of the sedges <strong>and</strong> associated grasses have disappeared,
leaving annual plant species <strong>and</strong> bare soil termed “black beach”. Overgrazing
<strong>and</strong> burrowing by pikas (Ochotona spp.) have been implicated as major causal factors of
this degradation, although climate change <strong>and</strong> increasing aridity may also play a role.
This degradation calls into question the long-term sustainability of the Tibetan steppe
under current use” (Sheehy, Miller & Johnson 2006: 143).
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