Track 3-04: Social and Economic Adaptation to Changes in Grassland Resources and Markets
Description
In 2002, the Chinese government issued the “balancing animals and grass” policy to control the degradation problem of northern China, but these programs have been widely resisted by herders. We proposed that herder had their mental stocking rate, which refers to the number of animals that the herders think they can place or maintain on a piece of rangeland over a specified period of time. It is the mental stocking rate that guides herder on how to adjust livestock-breeding practices. This study surveyed herder opinion of grass-animal balance in the meadow steppe, typical steppe and desert steppe regions of northern China. Most herders admitted that they bred more livestock than ten years ago, whereas they insisted that there was no overstocking in their rangelands and more than half even thought that their rangelands could still carry more livestock when the policy was implemented. Most herders hold that they took into account the carrying capacity of rangelands when making decisions about stock-breeding practices. Herders from three regions nominated the following mental stocking rates; 0.75-1.50, 0.60-1.50, and 0.50-0.75 sheep/ha, insisting these rates were necessary and reasonable.
Included in
Herder Mental Stocking Rate in the Rangeland Regions of Northern China
In 2002, the Chinese government issued the “balancing animals and grass” policy to control the degradation problem of northern China, but these programs have been widely resisted by herders. We proposed that herder had their mental stocking rate, which refers to the number of animals that the herders think they can place or maintain on a piece of rangeland over a specified period of time. It is the mental stocking rate that guides herder on how to adjust livestock-breeding practices. This study surveyed herder opinion of grass-animal balance in the meadow steppe, typical steppe and desert steppe regions of northern China. Most herders admitted that they bred more livestock than ten years ago, whereas they insisted that there was no overstocking in their rangelands and more than half even thought that their rangelands could still carry more livestock when the policy was implemented. Most herders hold that they took into account the carrying capacity of rangelands when making decisions about stock-breeding practices. Herders from three regions nominated the following mental stocking rates; 0.75-1.50, 0.60-1.50, and 0.50-0.75 sheep/ha, insisting these rates were necessary and reasonable.
