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

sistance policies to help the more vulnerable population. This is the country‘s
current strategy.
The government’s assistance package to help the Tibetan pastoral area can be
described as “at all costs <strong>and</strong> regardless of the price”. First, the infrastructure
has been improved significantly. Not only do roads, power grids, solar power
<strong>and</strong> safe drinking water facilities cover more <strong>and</strong> more pastoralists, but the
pastoral communities are also the first in Tibet to have a railway <strong>and</strong> a large
logistics centre. Second, schools, hospitals <strong>and</strong> other social infrastructure continue
to improve with the pastoralist resettlement programme covering almost
all of the herdsmen. Third, direct measures to support livestock production
were put in place, including pasture irrigation, cultivated pastures, rangel<strong>and</strong>
restoration (or a grazing ban), fencing, cattle sheds, fodder stalls <strong>and</strong> veterinary
stations, payment for ecosystem services, processing plants, non-pastoralist
industries <strong>and</strong> human resources development, <strong>and</strong> so on. These measures <strong>and</strong>
the promotion of the rangel<strong>and</strong> contract responsibility system, together, have
laid a foundation for the leap in development of pastoralism in recent years.
In all the state’s measures to support the development of pastoralism <strong>and</strong>
rangel<strong>and</strong> management, the measures for increasing production are the most
sensitive. Rangel<strong>and</strong> pastoralism has its own laws <strong>and</strong> specific approaches when
it comes to development <strong>and</strong> modernisation. Following the dem<strong>and</strong>s immediate
changes are necessary; otherwise the aims would not be achieved. For
example, the cultivation of large areas of pastures in the alpine belt, although it
is possible, can only be fully understood by pastoralists given the right amount
of time along with the right price relationship between fodder <strong>and</strong> meat.
Other examples include the grazing ban <strong>and</strong> payment for ecosystem services.
However, money in the pastoral areas can easily be consumed <strong>and</strong> it is difficult
to turn it into a sustainable resource. Plus policy implementation is yet to be
perfected. In short, the full support of the government to improve pastoralism
<strong>and</strong> rangel<strong>and</strong>s can only become good policies <strong>and</strong> turn into tangible benefits
if the people who implement them know how to do so correctly.
The Central Authorities’ Twelfth Five-Year Plan explicitly puts forward the requirement
of harmonious development. The plan draws a blueprint for regional
development that builds on regional economic strengths. It presents a clear
positioning of the main zone functions, efficient use of l<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> space <strong>and</strong> the
idea of man <strong>and</strong> nature living in harmony. The objective is to ensure sustainable
national development <strong>and</strong> ecological security, while making certain that
the people live a harmonious <strong>and</strong> prosperous life. In particular, we should find
an efficient, sustainable <strong>and</strong> environmentally friendly development path. This
requires us to seriously consider the design of public policies for pastoralism <strong>and</strong>
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> > > 5. Pastoral Practices <strong>and</strong> their Transformations