Guo, Xiaoming

Han, Wei

English

University of Kentucky

University of Kentucky UKnowledge International Grassland Congress Proceedings XXI International Grassland Congress / VIII International Rangeland Congress Understanding the Social Determinants of Sustainable Grassland Management — A Case‐Based Analysis of 3 Tibetan Villages in Sichuan, China Xiaoming Guo Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences, China Wei Han Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences, China Follow this and additional works at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc  Part of the Plant Sciences Commons, and the Soil Science Commons This document is available at https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/21/18-1/36 The XXI International Grassland Congress / VIII International Rangeland Congress took place in Hohhot, China from June 29 through July 5, 2008. Proceedings edited by Organizing Committee of 2008 IGC/IRC Conference Published by Guangdong People's Publishing House This Event is brought to you for free and open access by the Plant and Soil Sciences at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in International Grassland Congress Proceedings by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact UKnowledge@lsv.uky.edu. 瞯 ]932　 瞯 　 Multifunctional Grasslands in a Changing World 　 Volume Ⅱ 　Grasslands/Rangelands People and Policies——— Policy Issues for Grasslands/RangelandsUnderstanding the social determinants of sustainable grassland management — a case‐basedanalysis of 3 Tibetan villages in Sichuan , ChinaGuo X iaoming and H an WeiS ichuan A cademy o f Social Science , No 155 , Y ihuanx ilu X iy iduan , Chengdu 610071 , China ,E‐mail : guo2280＠ sina .com and han＠ t f ol .conKey words : participatory rural appraisal , grassland policy , user rights , indigenous fire managementIntroduction The individual allocation of user rights to pasture may have beneficial effects on the grassland , but it has createdmany operational difficulties for households in some herding areas of China . This is because grassland management differs fromthat of agricultural land . Livestock need to maintain mobility and flexible access to grassland and this is not suited to tightlydesignated terms of operation . However , if grassland deteriorates further , even the individualized , group herding model whichhouseholds in the survey area have adopted will be impractical .Materials and methods The study utilized Participatory Rural Appraisal ( PRA) methods in three Tibetan villages to understandhow social factors affected sustainable grassland management . Focused interviews with local villagers gave insight into theirlivelihood strategies and how they utilized grassland .Results The study indicated that allocation of grassland user rights to individual households , which then operated their combinedholdings jointly , was an effective method for sustainable grassland management . Actually , the allocation of grassland userrights to household level in the three villages under study had only been nominal . Herder households continued to graze theirlivestock jointly in the traditional group mode of operation . Moreover , they considered this to be an appropriate strategy .However , where grassland resources were , or became , scarce there were more disputes and social management was affected .Better‐off villages were able to overcome this problem through income diversification . However , in the majority of cases , it wasthe traditional village processes of mediation which could still lessen the intensity of disputes and their outcomes . It is nownecessary to review the contradictions which exist between some current grassland policies and traditional techniques . Forexample , the proportion of shrubs in the composition of the grassland has recently increased , whereas herders would prefer tohave more grass . Shrub increase results from the banning of the process of light burning of grassland under the natural forestprotection program . Herders had traditionally used this light burning to suppress shrub grow th . Similarly , the traditionalgrassland allocation and operation process was based on equity principles and often embodied in village social agreements . It isthese features that continue to give vitality to the traditional grassland management principles .Conclusions Current grassland policies in herding areas have some bias toward the improvement of physical living conditions andtend to overlook capacity‐building and the role of traditional local institutions . Other policies , such as cropland conversion topasture , would benefit from associated government activities which would strengthen their overall impact .

Understanding the Social Determinants of Sustainable Grassland Management — A Case‐Based Analysis of 3 Tibetan Villages in Sichuan, China

https://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3838&context=igc

Understanding the Social Determinants of Sustainable Grassland Management — A Case‐Based Analysis of 3 Tibetan Villages in Sichuan, China

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