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

5 Future Prospects for pastoral Practices in the Light of environmental
Protection <strong>and</strong> Modernity
In Sichuan official statistics have identified that 219,000 out of 533,000 Tibetan
pastoralists have no permanent settlements <strong>and</strong> that in addition 245,000
are living in “shanty houses”. 47 The “New-Tent-Dwelling Life” project envisages
benefiting those 473,000 pastoralists. A significant amount of funds – about
18 billion Yuan (app. 2.6 billion USD) is allocated by Sichuan Province during
2009–2012. The authorities will “construct 1409 permanent settlements
within a total area of 240,000 km2 (approximately equivalent to the area of
the United Kingdom) in 29 pastoral counties”. 48 Probably this new strategy
is unique when it comes to the resettlement of people, the exclusion of space
from human utilisation, <strong>and</strong> the consequences of this interference. Ab<strong>and</strong>oning
cultural l<strong>and</strong>scapes does not necessarily invoke a return to nature. The succession
of previously cultivated <strong>and</strong> grazed l<strong>and</strong>s could be an unwelcome set of
vegetation creeping in.
The question remains: Are there any alternatives for dealing with obvious
degradation in certain places <strong>and</strong> with the preservation of natural <strong>and</strong> cultural
l<strong>and</strong>scapes? Pastoral strategies have proved over centuries that a resource can be
utilised in a sustainable manner. If we are confronted with a question of scale
when it comes to environmental degradation then other options could be useful
tools in tackling the challenges <strong>and</strong> constraints. The payment for ecological
services could be an attempt to improve the living conditions of pastoralists by
leaving them where they are. Payment for ecological services involves the reduction
of flocks to an acceptable herd size that allows sustainable management of
pasture resources. The difference between present high stocking quotas <strong>and</strong>
acceptable ones would be paid in cash to the herdsmen by government authorities.
This could amount to about a third of the pastoralists’ household income.
49 In view of the huge amounts of government investments that are planned to
be allocated for resettlement schemes it could be a worthwhile consideration
to evaluate the advantages of having pastoralists as active l<strong>and</strong>scape managers
instead of removing them in great style from pastures that have been utilised for
centuries. The indigenous knowledge accumulated by pastoralists over many
generations seems too valuable to be just neglected or omitted. 50
47 Tao Lu, Wu Ning & Peng Luo 2009.
48 Tao Lu, Wu Ning & Peng Luo 2009: 1074.
49 In a recent study Wilkes et al. (2010: 64–65) discuss the payment for environmental
services <strong>and</strong> provide an example from Hongyuan where the difference in a household’s
annual income would be app. 6150 Yuan, equivalent to a third of the overall income.
50 Cf. Miller (2002) who advocates the incorporation of pastoralists’ indigenous knowledge.
220