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

The average annual incomes of herders <strong>and</strong> farmers increased almost 18 times
from 175 Yuan in 1978 to 3,176 Yuan in 2008. However, the Engel Coefficient
indicates that the living st<strong>and</strong>ard of over 60 % of Tibetan rural residents is bellow
“well-off”. Compared with the rural residents of the whole nation, Tibetan
rural residents have less income <strong>and</strong> spend a larger proportion of their income
on food.
Some factors that impact on social <strong>and</strong> economic changes, including policies,
tourism, the development of niche products <strong>and</strong> natural hazards are discussed
in this chapter. It is suggested a coupled valley cropping <strong>and</strong> mountain pastoral
system should be implemented in order to alleviate overgrazing upl<strong>and</strong> while
increasing incomes in both the upl<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> lowl<strong>and</strong>s. For the long-term sustainable
development of pastoral areas in Tibet, an out-migration leading to a
higher education among former pastoralists should be included in the strategy
instead of a passive <strong>and</strong> temporary migration system.
1 Introduction
Tibet is reputed to be one of the five largest pastoral areas in China. It has 82.07
million ha of natural alpine rangel<strong>and</strong>, representing 21 % of the total natural
rangel<strong>and</strong>s of the nation <strong>and</strong> 68.1 % of the total l<strong>and</strong> area of Tibet. Grazing livestock
plays the most important role in herders’ livelihoods in the vast Tibetan
Plateau, where no other agricultural activities exist because of the high elevation
of over 4,000 m, on average. The high altitude results in the air temperature
remaining too low to allow for a free-frost period in the year. Given the harsh
natural, environmental conditions, the traditional alpine pastoral production
system requires extensive management <strong>and</strong> its output us comparatively meagre.
Thus leading to a less complex socio-economic situation in the remote alpine
pastoral system compared to the cropping-livestock integrated farming system
in the lowl<strong>and</strong> areas of central China. In reviewing the socio-economic changes
in the plateau pastoral systems of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), three
main stages have been identified <strong>and</strong> are explored below.
�� Phase-I from 1959 to 1969: The democratic reform of the Government
of the TAR. Before 1959, the social system in Tibet was characterized
by a feudal serfdom system, with the feudal upper class (5 % of the
population) owning 95 % or more of the productive materials, such as l<strong>and</strong>
<strong>and</strong> livestock. In 1959, democratic reforms were carried out. Therefore,
a private economy gave ownership to the farmers <strong>and</strong> herders, which
prompted rapid economic development.
240