IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/lauspo/v113y2022ics0264837721006190.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Improving herders’ income through alpine grassland husbandry on Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Author

Listed:
  • Qian, Qian
  • Wang, Junbang
  • Zhang, Xiujuan
  • Wang, Shaoqiang
  • Li, Yingnian
  • Wang, Qinxue
  • Watson, Alan E.
  • Zhao, Xinquan

Abstract

Promoting sustainability of ecosystems and economic development is a dual national objective in China, as well as one of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. The Three-River Headwaters Region, where a National Park initiative has been initiated in the pastoral region of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, is one of the key pilot projects in China with sustainability targets for 2025 and 2035. This paper assesses the possibility of achieving established targets for the proportion of cultivated to available grassland. These targets consider both ecosystem protection and herders’ livelihoods. An income simulation model was first developed to estimate the percentage of cultivated grassland area necessary from the natural grasslands to achieve the target income. The model was developed using income and livestock data from the annual yearbook for 2018, then applied to estimate conditions for three counties in the eastern region. Presently the rangelands are seriously overgrazed with income just reaching above the poverty level. If livestock were decreased to a theoretical carrying capacity level, income would decrease to lower than the poverty level, even considering a livestock feeding system to achieve higher production levels. Under these circumstances, in order to reach income targets in 2025, one option centered on income production from livestock requires 5% of grasslands to be cultivated to produce forage for livestock. However, achieving income targets in 2035 will become very difficult because the needed proportion was estimated to increase to 14%. An alternative was to transport extra forage from the agriculture region of eastern Qinghai province. The local government should consider these two options to improve herders’ income along with maintaining the traditional nomadic culture and sustainable ecosystems. The approach used to develop and apply this model could be applied to predict income changes accompanying future climate scenarios and to propose policies aimed at sustainability of ecosystems and economies for grasslands worldwide.

Suggested Citation

  • Qian, Qian & Wang, Junbang & Zhang, Xiujuan & Wang, Shaoqiang & Li, Yingnian & Wang, Qinxue & Watson, Alan E. & Zhao, Xinquan, 2022. "Improving herders’ income through alpine grassland husbandry on Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:113:y:2022:i:c:s0264837721006190
    DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105896
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837721006190
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105896?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zang, Yuzhu & Liu, Yansui & Yang, Yuanyuan & Woods, Michael & Fois, Francesca, 2020. "Rural decline or restructuring? Implications for sustainability transitions in rural China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    2. Behrendt, Karl & Cacho, Oscar & Scott, James M. & Jones, Randall, 2016. "Using seasonal stochastic dynamic programming to identify optimal management decisions that achieve maximum economic sustainable yields from grasslands under climate risk," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 13-23.
    3. Bilgen, Selçuk & Sarıkaya, İkbal, 2015. "Exergy for environment, ecology and sustainable development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1115-1131.
    4. Huang, Lin & Shao, Quanqin & Liu, Jiyuan & Lu, Qingshui, 2018. "Improving ecological conservation and restoration through payment for ecosystem services in Northeastern Tibetan Plateau, China," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 31(PA), pages 181-193.
    5. Yin, Yantin & Hou, Yulu & Langford, Colin & Bai, Haihua & Hou, Xianyang, 2019. "Herder stocking rate and household income under the Grassland Ecological Protection Award Policy in northern China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 120-129.
    6. Brett A. Bryan & Lei Gao & Yanqiong Ye & Xiufeng Sun & Jeffery D. Connor & Neville D. Crossman & Mark Stafford-Smith & Jianguo Wu & Chunyang He & Deyong Yu & Zhifeng Liu & Ang Li & Qingxu Huang & Hai , 2018. "China’s response to a national land-system sustainability emergency," Nature, Nature, vol. 559(7713), pages 193-204, July.
    7. Hu, Yuanning & Huang, Jikun & Hou, Lingling, 2019. "Impacts of the Grassland Ecological Compensation Policy on Household Livestock Production in China: An Empirical Study in Inner Mongolia," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 248-256.
    8. Jiang, Wei & Lü, Yihe & Liu, Yuanxin & Gao, Wenwen, 2020. "Ecosystem service value of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau significantly increased during 25 years," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    9. Liu, Min & Dries, Liesbeth & Huang, Jikun & Min, Shi & Tang, Jianjun, 2019. "The impacts of the eco-environmental policy on grassland degradation and livestock production in Inner Mongolia, China: An empirical analysis based on the simultaneous equation model," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Xiaoqi & Zhao, Xueyan, 2023. "Farmers' perception and choice preference of grassland ecosystem services: Evidence from the northeastern region of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    2. Zihan Yang & Bo Li & Bo Nan & Yuying Li & Kai Huang & Xu Bi & Yirong Fan & Yao Fan, 2023. "Forage Supply–Demand Assessment and Influencing Factor Analysis from the Perspective of Socio-Ecological System: A Case Study of Altay Prefecture, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-21, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yiran Zhang & Wuriliga & Yong Ding & Fang Li & Yujuan Zhang & Min Su & Shuhui Li & Li Liu, 2022. "Effectiveness of Grassland Protection and Pastoral Area Development under the Grassland Ecological Conservation Subsidy and Reward Policy," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-15, August.
    2. Yan Yu & Ya Wu & Pan Wang & Yili Zhang & Liang Emlyn Yang & Xian Cheng & Jianzhong Yan, 2021. "Grassland Subsidies Increase the Number of Livestock on the Tibetan Plateau: Why Does the “Payment for Ecosystem Services” Policy Have the Opposite Outcome?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-20, May.
    3. Zhichao Xue & Martin Kappas & Daniel Wyss, 2021. "Spatio-Temporal Grassland Development in Inner Mongolia after Implementation of the First Comprehensive Nation-Wide Grassland Conservation Program," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-16, January.
    4. Byrne, Anne T. & Hadrich, Joleen C. & Robinson, Brian E. & Han, Guodong, 2020. "A factor-income approach to estimating grassland protection subsidy payments to livestock herders in Inner Mongolia, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    5. Shi, Yuxing & Cai, Yu & Zhao, Minjuan, 2021. "Social interaction effect of rotational grazing and its policy implications for sustainable use of grassland: Evidence from pastoral areas in Inner Mongolia and Gansu, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    6. Lijia Wang & Zeng Tang & Qisheng Feng & Xin Wang, 2022. "Informal Institutions and Herders’ Grazing Intensity Reduction Behavior: Evidence from Pastoral Areas in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-15, August.
    7. Li Yang & Guanghua Qiao, 2023. "Grassland Ecological Compensation, Income Level and Policy Satisfaction: An Empirical Analysis Based on a Survey of Herders in Ecological Protection Redline Areas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-17, January.
    8. Huilong Lin & Yuting Zhao & Ghulam Mujtaba Kalhoro, 2022. "Ecological Response of the Subsidy and Incentive System for Grassland Conservation in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-23, February.
    9. Qinghu Liao & Wenwen Dong & Boxin Zhao, 2023. "A New Strategy to Solve “the Tragedy of the Commons” in Sustainable Grassland Ecological Compensation: Experience from Inner Mongolia, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-24, June.
    10. Cuizhen Xia & Lihua Zhou & Ya Wang & Xiaodong Pei, 2022. "Tibetan Herders’ Life Satisfaction and Determinants under the Pastureland Rehabilitation Program: A Case Study of Maduo County, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-17, February.
    11. Yuting Zhao & Yanfei Pu & Huilong Lin & Rong Tang, 2021. "Examining Soil Erosion Responses to Grassland Conversation Policy in Three-River Headwaters, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-14, March.
    12. Hongyu Wang & Xiaolei Wang & Apurbo Sarkar & Fuhong Zhang, 2021. "How Capital Endowment and Ecological Cognition Affect Environment-Friendly Technology Adoption: A Case of Apple Farmers of Shandong Province, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-16, July.
    13. Ying Pan & Jin Zhu & Zhongxu Zhao & Zhennan Li & Junxi Wu, 2023. "The dual effects of population migration on the achievement of sustainable development goals in Tibet, China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(7), pages 5931-5947, July.
    14. Mingyue Li & Pujie Zhao & Lianbei Wu & Kai Chen, 2021. "Effects of Value Perception, Environmental Regulation and Their Interaction on the Improvement of Herdsmen’s Grassland Ecological Policy Satisfaction," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-23, March.
    15. Behrendt, Karl & Brown, Colin & Qiao, Guanghua & Zhang, Bao, 2022. "Assessing the opportunity costs of Chinese herder compliance with a payment for environmental services scheme," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    16. Pan, Ying & Wu, Junxi & Zhang, Yanjie & Zhang, Xianzhou & Yu, Chengqun, 2021. "Simultaneous enhancement of ecosystem services and poverty reduction through adjustments to subsidy policies relating to grassland use in Tibet, China," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    17. Feng, Xiaolong & Qiu, Huanguang & Liu, Mingyue & Tang, Jianjun, 2024. "Innovation of grassland ecological governance systems: Synergy between government regulation and grassroots governance," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    18. Lan Yao & Xiaobo Yan & Miaomiao Xu & Mengya Wu & Zhenning Yu & Min Li, 2021. "Study on Herders’ Willingness to Protect Grassland Based on the IAD Extended Decision Model," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-16, April.
    19. Ying Liang & Wei Song, 2022. "Ecological and Environmental Effects of Land Use and Cover Changes on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: A Bibliometric Review," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-23, November.
    20. Ying Lu & Walter Timo de Vries, 2023. "Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Rural Development in China over the Past 40 Years," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-20, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:113:y:2022:i:c:s0264837721006190. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joice Jiang (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/land-use-policy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.