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

Second, to earnestly carry out the ecological protection <strong>and</strong> construction of
rangel<strong>and</strong>, 41 counties in the region have implemented a rangel<strong>and</strong> contract
responsibility system <strong>and</strong> contracted 5.43 million mu (15 mu equals one hectare)
of rangel<strong>and</strong> to households. The rangel<strong>and</strong> restoration project has been
implemented promoting the restoration <strong>and</strong> protection of 4,591 hectares of
natural rangel<strong>and</strong>. Mouse <strong>and</strong> pest control has been carried out in 28 villages
in eight towns of two rural counties, covering 11.85 million mu.
Third, to actively promote ecological forest construction, a complete ban on
commercial logging of natural forests has been enforced in the whole region.
We have established a forest ecosystem services payment fund, focusing on the
year-round management <strong>and</strong> protection of the region’s 10.112 million hectares
of forests. We have implemented the Upper Yangtze River Natural Forest Protection
Project in 3 counties, putting 690 million mu of natural forests under
strict protection <strong>and</strong> relocating 2,508 farmer <strong>and</strong> herdsman households. Key
reforestation projects have been implemented, planting a total of 3.71 million
mu of forest, closing off 8.37 million mu of hills <strong>and</strong> shoals for plantations, <strong>and</strong>
regenerating 400,000 mu of heavily logged natural forest. 1.1 million mu of
farml<strong>and</strong> has been reforested.
Fourth, to develop alternative energy sources suitable for agricultural <strong>and</strong>
pastoral areas, biogas systems have been installed in 155,700 rural households
of 51 counties in the region, enabling 778,000 farmers <strong>and</strong> herders to use clean
<strong>and</strong> convenient biogas. Implementation of the Small Hydropower Project has
alleviated pressure on local fuel. The region has been promoting the use of solar
cookers <strong>and</strong> solar water heaters. The installed capacity of the solar photovoltaic
power plants amounts to 9,000 kilowatts.
Fifth, to gradually address the prevention <strong>and</strong> control of desertification,
soil erosion <strong>and</strong> geological disasters, 64 hectares of desert have been treated.
Qushui, Zhanang, Shigatse, Shiquanhe <strong>and</strong> other s<strong>and</strong> control experiments
<strong>and</strong> demonstration areas have been established. 370.1 square kilometres of
l<strong>and</strong> has been treated for soil erosion. Measures have been taken to prevent
mudslides <strong>and</strong> other geological hazards in Zhangmu town, Nyalam County.
Sixth, to launch a “Payment of Ecosystem Services” (PES) mechanism, research
has been carried out on PES, <strong>and</strong> a study report on PES in Tibet has been
written. This report proposes ecological compensation policies in the five areas
of forest, rangel<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> water conservation, <strong>and</strong> nature reserves <strong>and</strong> mineral
resources development. Beginning in 2004, the Tibet Autonomous Region
has been implementing the policy of “Payment of Forest Ecosystem Services”
(PFES); <strong>and</strong> each year following 2009 will see a deployment of 758.46 million
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