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

small portion of animals are nowadays driven in the summertime to
Jawshangoz, due to transportation difficulties <strong>and</strong> concerns about the
dangers on the road in Roshtqala District. Therefore, it is possible that the
concentration of animals is comparable to what was seen in Soviet times
in the lower parts of the valley.
�� In Jawshangoz, desolate regions located around Turumtay-kul Lake are
not exploited as pastures because of the presence of poisonous plants such
as astragal or lindelophia that would lead to the loss of animals. In some
places, the local herders find <strong>and</strong> liquidate these poisonous plants.
�� Some pastures of Saghridasht still remain mined, thus forcing the herders
to seek other places for the animals to feed, which sometimes leads to
conflicts with other users.
�� In the opinion of a number of respondents the winter pastures in
Jawshangoz have been exploited to their limit, <strong>and</strong> it is impossible to
graze animals there for the rest of the season. These pastures may be most
exposed to degradation.
�� In the western part of the GBAO, especially in Saghridasht, the largest
threat to pastures is l<strong>and</strong> cultivation. In the first years after the soil is
ploughed the l<strong>and</strong> remains naked or overgrown with marshes. It can take
up to 20 years for the pastures to regenerate.
2.3 The Condition of natural Fodder Crops Area in the GBAO
Animal-breeding in the GBAO is one of the main pillars of the rural <strong>and</strong> public
economy. Its direct development depends on the strength of the food base. At
present, out of the total number of the animals in the region between 75 % <strong>and</strong>
95 % are being provided with animal food from natural pastures. However, in
the main, the pastoral l<strong>and</strong> assets are located in difficult mountainous locations.
In our region, two classes of pastoral l<strong>and</strong> assets are distinguished on the basis
of natural-climatic conditions <strong>and</strong> that of plantation cover (natural) as follows:
(i) Mountain-desert origin on mountainous black-soil l<strong>and</strong>s, brown <strong>and</strong>
chestnut (coloured) soils.
(ii) Mountainous half-desert on light chestnut colour, light <strong>and</strong> grey
mountains types of soils which are in turn divided into three
sub-categories: of plain origin, of desert-plain origin <strong>and</strong> of steppe origin.
Of the two classes of fodder l<strong>and</strong> assets listed above, 79 % of the region consists
of mountainous half-desert pastures. Based on their climatic characteristics,
mountainous grazing l<strong>and</strong>s are extraordinarily varied in composition.
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