Grassland Management in China: Countermeasures to Reverse Degradation

Li Zhou
Rural Development Institute, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS)

Abstract: This paper consists of four parts. Part 1 provides a brief review of the changes in China’s pastoral animal husbandry and grasslands since reform and opening up in the 1980s. Part 2 identifies the problems of inappropriate property rights demarcation, misuse of fencing and fragmented grassland management, and proposes suggestions on adjusting the demarcation of property rights, prudent use of grassland fencing and restoring joint management by grassland village communities. Part 3 identifies problems in the grassland ecological compensation system, including a complicated scope of compensation, short duration of compensation and lack of simple and clear objects of supervision, and proposes suggestions on ensuring compensation based on changes in the number of livestock, focusing compensation on professional herders and encouraging participation by diverse stakeholders. Part 4 reveals that China’s grassland monitoring is  yet to focus on pasture property right holders, overlooks the determinants of grassland change and fails to bring into play the role of village communities in grassland monitoring, and proposes suggestions on conducting livestock monitoring in pastoral village communities, monitoring the value added of grassland ecosystem services and creating a “three-in-one” grassland monitoring team and disclosure system.

Key words: pasture property rights, ecological compensation, grassland monitoring

JEL Classification Codes: P48, M12, P28

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