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

1 Introduction
On the 18th of January 2009, the State Council of China principally approved
the proposal submitted by the People’s Government of the Tibetan Autonomous
Region of China (TAR), to conserve <strong>and</strong> build the Tibetan Plateau as an ecoshelter.
This is considered one of the most ambitious national environmental
protection <strong>and</strong> restoration programmes in China. It will last twenty years, <strong>and</strong>
over 15.5 billion Yuan (2.4 billion USD) will be invested. According to the final
proposal (The National Development <strong>and</strong> Reform Commission, 2009), the
programme was launched because of the significant function the Plateau plays
in stabilizing the climatic system, maintaining water resources <strong>and</strong> hosting rich
biodiversity, which was being depleted by increasing grassl<strong>and</strong> degradation,
desertification, soil erosion <strong>and</strong> biodiversity loss. The programme included five
conservation projects (rangel<strong>and</strong> conservation; forest fire <strong>and</strong> disease control;
protection of wild plants <strong>and</strong> animals <strong>and</strong> construction of protected areas;
wetl<strong>and</strong> protection; <strong>and</strong> development of alternative rural energy), four restoration
projects (forest shelter building, grass planting, rangel<strong>and</strong> restoration, <strong>and</strong>
desert <strong>and</strong> soil erosion control), <strong>and</strong> one monitoring <strong>and</strong> assessment project. It
is an undoubtedly magnificent programme. In this paper, we present a review
of the programme to describe the programme background, plan, primary
results <strong>and</strong> some lessons learnt from previous years. Some reconsiderations <strong>and</strong>
recommendations will be discussed in the end.
2 Ecological Security Construction: China’s Options <strong>and</strong> Practices after
1998’s nationwide Flood Disasters
It has been widely witnessed that China has undertaken rapid economic development
since the 1980s, but at the same time has received intensive criticism for its
environmental deterioration <strong>and</strong> pollution. It is in 1998 that China encountered
a turning point, when disastrous floods took place almost all over the country
during the summer, causing 1,320 deaths <strong>and</strong> 200 billion Yuan (3 billion USD)
of damage. According to an investigation <strong>and</strong> examination of the case, the environmental
deterioration in the upper reaches of several river watersheds, due to
forest loss, grassl<strong>and</strong> degradation, soil erosion <strong>and</strong> desertification, was blamed as
the catalyst for the flood disaster.
Therefore, China launched two important national programmes, the National
Forest Protection Programme <strong>and</strong> the National Grain-for-Green Programme.
The former is to stop any kind of logging in natural forests around the upper
reaches of river watersheds in China’s Northeast, Northwest <strong>and</strong> Southwest.
The later is focused on reforesting the steppe farml<strong>and</strong> in China’s Northwest
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