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

6 Conclusions
Rangel<strong>and</strong>s are not merely resources for livestock production. More often
than not, the role of rangel<strong>and</strong>s in environmental conservation outweighs
their roles in economic development. This realization of the multi-functional
nature of the rangel<strong>and</strong> ecosystem has greatly exp<strong>and</strong>ed the scope of values of
rangel<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> presents a good opportunity for a shift of rangel<strong>and</strong> management
objectives from a “pastoral economy” centred on livestock production to
a “rangel<strong>and</strong> economy” built on the multiple goods <strong>and</strong> services of rangel<strong>and</strong>
ecosystems. Pastoral communities are traditional users but this does not mean
that they are always in better position in negotiation with newly-added interest
groups. Multi-stakeholder participation in rangel<strong>and</strong> management is becoming
increasingly necessary <strong>and</strong> important to harmonize different management
objectives <strong>and</strong> coordinate the interests of different groups. Necessary policies,
governance structure <strong>and</strong> institutional setups are needed to guarantee that the
pastoralists are the true beneficiaries not victims of larger-scale causes such as
environmental conservation. If well designed, ecotourism could well integrate
development <strong>and</strong> conservation objectives. Necessary supports should be provided
to the pastoral communities to enhance their adaptability <strong>and</strong> resilience
<strong>and</strong> help them to achieve successful socioeconomic transformation.
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