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

“tolerated”; instead, it should be something to be depended <strong>and</strong> encouraged if
no other ways are available; <strong>and</strong>
(3) for a long time in the future, pastoralism will continue to be an important
way of resource use in the rangel<strong>and</strong>s area.
Traditional pastoralism is facing daunting challenges including declining
economic viability due to the lack of market competitiveness; disintegration of
indigenous systems, inappropriate policy support, rangel<strong>and</strong> degradation, <strong>and</strong>
lack of appreciation among the young generation(Yi et al. 2008).
3 Multi-Functionalities of Rangel<strong>and</strong>s: Emerging Opportunities
3.1 Evolving rangel<strong>and</strong> values
When people use nature’s goods <strong>and</strong> services, they transform nature into a
resource. The parts of nature that are valued as resources are relative to a particular
culture or period of time. Similarly, values of the same parts of nature
evolve over time depending on the underst<strong>and</strong>ing, priority concerns of human
beings <strong>and</strong> technology level. As is shown in Table 2, much more values have
been attributed to the rangel<strong>and</strong>s than before when rangel<strong>and</strong>s were mostly
conceived as a resource for pastoral development.
Table 2: Evolving rangel<strong>and</strong> values
Traditional Values/functions Present Values/functions
Habitats
Fodder resources
Religious sites
Medicinal plants
Fire woods
Source: compiled by authors
Habitats
Fodder resources
Religious sites
Medicinal plants
Fire woods
Recreational venues/aesthetics
Water <strong>and</strong> soil conservancy
Biodiversity conservation
Carbon sequestration
Niche products
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> > > 3. Eco-tourism <strong>and</strong> Nature Protection in Relation to <strong>Pastoralism</strong> <strong>and</strong> Rangel<strong>and</strong> <strong>Management</strong>