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

2 Overview of Pastures in Xinjiang
2.1 General information on pastures in Xinjiang
People generally believe that forests are the main terrestrial ecosystem, <strong>and</strong>
natural rangel<strong>and</strong> resources are often neglected as having a role as ecological
shelter. The lessons from the United States in the 1930s or the Soviet Union
in the 1950s, as well as the costly “s<strong>and</strong>storms” in China today point to the
inevitable fact that natural pastures play an important role in the maintenance
of terrestrial ecosystems.
Secluded in the hinterl<strong>and</strong> of Asia <strong>and</strong> Europe <strong>and</strong> located in the northwest
edge of the motherl<strong>and</strong>, Xinjiang is situated away from the seas, surrounded by
mountains. It has blocked terrains <strong>and</strong> an inl<strong>and</strong> temperate or warm temperate
desert climate. From north to south, the terrain structure is featured by “three
mountains surrounding two basins”, the Altai Mountains, the Junggar Basin,
the Tianshan Mountains, the Tarim Basin, <strong>and</strong> the Kunlun Mountains (Photo
1). Xinjiang is unusually endowed with a full range of mountains, basins, plain
oases <strong>and</strong> the Gobi desert. The elevation here ranges from a low of –154 m in
the Turpan Basin to an average 6,000 m in the Kunlun Mountains <strong>and</strong> the
Pamirs, also known as “the roof of the world”. The unique geographical location
<strong>and</strong> topographical conditions in Xinjiang, combined with the underlying
platform of the Gobi Desert, not only creates a continental climate with arid
dryness <strong>and</strong> an extremely fragile ecosystem, but also determines the diversity
<strong>and</strong> complexity of the ecological environment <strong>and</strong> lays a foundation for the rich
pastures found here.
As one of China’s main rangel<strong>and</strong> areas, Xinjiang’s rangel<strong>and</strong>s are widespread
<strong>and</strong> diverse. According to the survey on rangel<strong>and</strong> resources conducted in the
1980s, the region has a gross rangel<strong>and</strong> area of 57.3 million hectares, accounting
for 14.6 % of the national total <strong>and</strong> 34.4 % of the total l<strong>and</strong> area of Xinjiang.
Farml<strong>and</strong>s, forests, <strong>and</strong> rangel<strong>and</strong>s cover Xinjiang. The cultivated farml<strong>and</strong>s
(including gardens) cover 41.5 million hectares, accounting for 3.37 % of the
national total; forests cover 6.4 million hectares, accounting for 3.84 % <strong>and</strong> usable
rangel<strong>and</strong>s cover 48.0 million hectares, which is 14.43 times more than the
agricultural l<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> 8.06 times more than the forests. Rangel<strong>and</strong>s are a renewable,
natural agricultural resource <strong>and</strong> the foundation for animal husb<strong>and</strong>ry in
Xinjiang. In accordance with the “Criteria for Classification of Rangel<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong>
Rangel<strong>and</strong> Systems in China”, the rangel<strong>and</strong> in Xinjiang is divided into eleven
categories (Table 1), 25 sub-categories, 131 groups, <strong>and</strong> 687 types.
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