Review of Towards Sustainable Use of Rangelands in North-West China

摘要

Squires, V, Hua, L, Zhang, D and Li, G (eds.);Towards Sustainable Use of Rangelands in North-West China.;New York: Springer, 2010.;xxxi, 353 pages, ISBN 978-90-481-9621-0 e-ISBN 978-90-481-9622-7, DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-9622-7;Analyses of Chinese rangeland management are frequently divided on the identification of problems and solutions based on the nationality of the author. While most authors agree that grassland quality is declining and that pastoralist livelihoods are threatened with insolvency, Western authors tend to focus on the loss of grazing area and mobility due to landscape fragmentation caused by privatization policies, cropland intrusion, and insecure land tenure. Chinese authors, in contrast, tend to focus on the environmental damages caused by overstocking and overgrazing, and the corresponding need to raise herder incomes while decreasing livestock numbers, typically through agro-pastoral integration. This contrast in perspectives is on display in Towards Sustainable Use and unfortunately goes unanalysed.;The book's 15 chapters are written by a mix of Western - mostly Australian, but also Canadian - and Chinese authors, with a near-even split of lead authorships. Tone and style are fairly consistent, but the principles and solutions espoused frequently differ or are outright contradictory. Such internal disparity is inconvenient for those hoping to take action based on consensus, but is a realistic reflection of professional opinion in the field. Regardless of the specific tack, taking action is what this book is promoting. While the preface and chapter titles give the impression of a book on ecological restoration, the real focus is on sustainable development, with Western development agencies and, to a lesser degree, researchers as the intended audience. The focus on development is reflected in acknowledgements of support from development and research agencies and the World Bank/Global Environment Facility ‘Gansu Xinjiang Pastoral Development’ project, which is cited frequently throughout the book.;The breadth of Towards Sustainable Use is wide and seems intended to present potential development agencies in the region with a comprehensive picture of both problems and solutions. The five sections comprise a regional introduction, explanations of rangeland ecology and restoration potential, broader environmental concerns in the local context (including carbon sequestration), economics and improved agro-pastoral integration (including land tenure), and steps to move forward. While several important issues go inexplicably unmentioned (to be discussed later), the breadth of subject matter reflects the authors' view that pastoral systems involve inextricably linked human, livestock, and land components that must be considered holistically.;The broad strokes of the problems on China's rangelands are quite clear, despite variance in the details. The basic story is that the rangelands, principally of Xinjiang, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, and Qinghai provinces, are becoming severely degraded due to overgrazing by livestock. Livestock numbers are substantially higher now than those prior to 1949, with the most significant increases occurring since the reforms of the early 1980s. Despite high livestock numbers and increasing domestic demand for livestock products, most pastoralists, all of whom are ethnic minorities, are still quite poor, though often better off than rural farmers in the same regions. The challenge is thus to increase herder income while decreasing grazing pressure and/or decreasing livestock numbers.;As presented by Squires et al., one main avenue for intervention lies in the fact that livestock health and quality are at present fairly low due to inadequate feed, especially over the region's long, harsh winters. Increasing forage supply from rangelands is difficult, which is why most authors recommend improving agro-pastoral integration. One likely improvement recommended frequently throughout the book, whi