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

production at prices 30–50 % lower than those in other areas of China. This
measure also plays an important role in reducing farming costs <strong>and</strong> boosting
pastoral <strong>and</strong> rural development.
5.2 Tourism <strong>and</strong> the development of niche products
Tibet has unique advantages due to its tourism resources of the nature, culture
<strong>and</strong> food. Tourism first began to be developed in 1984, when the reforms
were made <strong>and</strong> the opening-up policy was carried out. Since operation of the
Qinghai-Tibet railway in 2006, the TAR’s tourism has seen rapid development.
Thereafter, millions of Chinese <strong>and</strong> foreign tourists have visited Tibet
each year, which has led to a significant contribution to the TAR’s GDP <strong>and</strong>
revenues (Figure 4). In addition to tourism centre of Lhasa, tourism has also
spread to Xigaze, Shannan, Nyingchi, Nagqu, Ngari, Qamdo, etc. This has led
to a significant increase in local employment <strong>and</strong> in tax revenues, <strong>and</strong> has also
raised the living st<strong>and</strong>ards of both urban <strong>and</strong> rural residents.
On the other h<strong>and</strong>, due to the increase in tourism <strong>and</strong> national <strong>and</strong> international
marketing requirements some niche products, such as the caterpillar fungus
(Cordyceps sinensis) <strong>and</strong> different herbs also contribute greatly to the incomes
of herders <strong>and</strong> farmers in many counties of Tibet. Although caterpillar fungus
is distributed across more than 56 % of the counties of the TAR, its major
production areas are concentrated in Qamdo, Nagqu, Nyingchi <strong>and</strong> Shannan,
which contribute about 20 % of the total national production. Between 2005
<strong>and</strong> 2008, the average annual production capacity was 50,000 kg in the TAR,
worth three to four billion Yuan. This is about 1,500 Yuan of net income for
each herder or farmer in Tibet. In some core areas of caterpillar fungus, this
figure would account for over 80 % of net incomes annually, reaching up to
4,000–5,000 Yuan per person. However, the proportion of caterpillar fungus
in local incomes will be influenced greatly by its price fluctuations (Figure 5)
<strong>and</strong> the annual production capacity.
5.3 Effect of natural hazards
Natural hazards, particularly heavy snow disasters, have always played a key
role in the worsening of herders’ living conditions. When a snow disaster takes
place in winter or spring it can lead to a family losing a large proportion of
their livestock, if not all of their animals, in only a few days. Therefore, snow
disasters frequently impose adverse impacts on pastoralists’ lives, but also
result in the instability of livestock husb<strong>and</strong>ry on the Tibetan Plateau. Figure
8 indicates that there were more than 18 million livestock that died due to
snowstorms from 1974 to 2009 in the Eastern parts of the Qinghai-Tibetan
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