Livestock mobility as a policy for rangeland resource management in western China
The grazing lands of Western China are one of the largest rangeland areas in the world, covering about 40％ of Chinas land area.They are an important natural resource, providing critical environmental and economic functions.The rangelands are also complex ecosystems, not only in the ways that physical forces shape the landscape, but also in the ways that socio‐economic, political, and institutional forces interact and impact upon the people using the rangeland resources (Sheehy, et al.2006).For thousands of years, livestock mobility has been an important livestock management strategy in the pastoral areas of Western China (Miller 2002).Current policies to privatize rangelands and settle nomads are greatly altering pastoral production systems that have endured for millennia.Livestock mobility, a fundamental characteristic of the pastoral systems is being reduced or eliminated.For much of Inner Asia, decreased livestock movement has been found to be a major cause of environmental degradation, which suggests that mobility should be an important part of any future policies for the development of the rangelands of Western China ( Humphrey and Sneath 1999).
rangeland western China nomads mobility
Daniel J.Miller
U.S.A gency for International Development,Chanakyapuri,New Delhi,India,11021
国际会议
呼和浩特
英文
2008-06-29（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）