Synopsis
A brief overview the pastoral regions of NW China that sets the scene for the chapters that follow. The principal geographic features (areal extent, elevation, topography), climatology, demography and the policy environment are summarized.
Key Points
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1.
China has large area of pastoral land, the third largest in the world, and it supports the world’s largest population of sheep and goats, and fourth largest population of cattle.
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2.
The pastoral region comprises a vast and geographically remote area characterized by extreme diversity in environments. The pastoral region is occupied by people of many nationalities.
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3.
The pastoral region comprises extremely diverse physical, hydrological and ecological systems as well an array of different rural communities and production systems.
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4.
There are over 3.3 million herder households. Low relative incomes and the incidence of poverty are pervasive in western China and are a major challenge for all levels of government. About 26 million poverty stricken people live in western China. Many pastoral households are classified as poverty households within these poverty counties.
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5.
There has been a massive increase in livestock numbers over the period since the late 1970s and a more intensive use of the forage resource. This intensive use has led to severe degradation and lower productivity as well as massive reductions in carbon sequestration potential and in biodiversity.
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6.
Various countermeasures have been implemented but their effectiveness is still being assessed.
Keywords
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Notes
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- 2.
Perverse incentives are those that foster undesirable outcomes (often as unintended consequences)
Perverse incentives are those that foster undesirable outcomes (often as unintended consequences)
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Squires, V., Limin, H. (2010). North-West China’s Rangelands and Peoples: Facts, Figures, Challenges and Responses. In: Squires, V., Hua, L., Li, G., Zhang, D. (eds) Towards Sustainable Use of Rangelands in North-West China. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9622-7_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9622-7_1
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