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

In the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) that occupies nearly
half of the total area of the Republic, pastoralism is the main pillar of the rural
economy, based chiefly on natural grazing pastures.
The alpine <strong>and</strong> sub-alpine pastures of the Pamirs constitute around 1.2 million
hectares <strong>and</strong> are located 2,000 to 4,500 thous<strong>and</strong>s meters above sea level, with
the corresponding combination of climatic, grazing <strong>and</strong> other conditions. On
these pastures, it is difficult to maintain cows, sheep <strong>and</strong> horses in the summertime,
<strong>and</strong> it is practically impossible to do so successfully in the wintertime.
Despite the specific conditions of the l<strong>and</strong>scape, including the steep slopes, the
poor soil quality due to the plethora of stones, <strong>and</strong> the deeply-incised, shady
valleys, the hay meadows <strong>and</strong> pastures of the mountainous districts of the
GBAO have been a reliable source for the production of nutritious <strong>and</strong> cheap
fodder for the breeding of pasture animals Photo 1). When utilized efficiently
the hay meadows <strong>and</strong> pastures of the region can produce between 80,000 <strong>and</strong>
100,000 tons of fodder annually. Currently, however, only 55–60 % of this
fodder production is being utilized. Many remote mountain pastures produce
up to 60–70 % livestock products per annum.
Along with the above, the lack of regular maintenance <strong>and</strong> unsystematic utilization
of natural fodder-producing l<strong>and</strong>s, especially in the winter pastures,
has resulted in the pastures low level of productivity of 0.5–0.6 hectare in dry
weight from one hectare. This has contributed to the degradation of the green
coverage <strong>and</strong> has delayed further development of breeding in the area.
Based on the data provided by the Committee on L<strong>and</strong> Utilization of the
GBAO, there are a total of 750,670 hectares of l<strong>and</strong> under pasture. Of this
l<strong>and</strong>, 112,491 hectares are state-owned; 18,948 hectares are under the reserve
of the Forestry Department, <strong>and</strong> 116,943 hectares of l<strong>and</strong> have been dedicated
as specially protected areas or areas of untouched nature. 1,702 hectares of
l<strong>and</strong> are covered by industrial facilities, including communication <strong>and</strong> roads.
The vast majority of the pasturel<strong>and</strong>s, 500,586 hectares or 67 % out of the
total area are attached to agricultural production facilities (Figure 1). Further
breaking down this area of agricultural production facilities, they report that
408,722 hectares of l<strong>and</strong> are utilized by farming households, 272 hectares of
l<strong>and</strong> are used as kitchen gardens, <strong>and</strong> 76,360 hectares of l<strong>and</strong> are used by the
state-owned agro-industrial enterprises of the region.
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