Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Solutions...

Possible Solutions

Possible solutions to environmental degradation in the Mongolian Grassland Biome would be government instituted land rights which would promote land tenure security, thus avoiding the “tragedy of the commons.” The Mongolian government could also set aside some of the grassland as protected areas, resettle displaces herders, promote range grazing (which is more sustainable), and improve government land management legislation overall.

Bibliography


"Desertification and Restoration of Grasslands in Inner Mongolia, China | Poverty Environment
Net." Poverty Environment Net. N.p., 17 July 2008. Web. <http://www.povertyenvironment.net/node/331>. 
Li, Wen, Saleem Ali, and Qian Zhang. "Property rights and grassland degradation: A study of the
Xilingol Pasture, Inner Mongolia, China." Journal of Environmental Management. 85. (2007): 461-470. Print.
Futrell, Chad. "A Vast Chinese Grassland, a Way of Life Turns to Dust | Circle of Blue
WaterNews." Circle of Blue WaterNews. N.p., 21 Jan. 2008. Web.
<http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2008/world/a-vast-chinese-grassland-a-way-of-
life-turns-to-dust/>.
"Mongolia Conservation Work." The Nature Conservancy. N.p., n.d. Web.
<http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/asiaandthepacific/mongolia/howwework/in
dex.htm>.
"Mongolian-Manchurian Grassland." World Wildlife Fund. N.p., n.d. Web.
<http://worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/pa0813>.
"Grasslands Biome." Grasslands Biome. N.p., 2000. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. <http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/grasslands.htm>.

Pictures


Table


Table source: Table from Li et. al. article
The table above reveals statistics for 16 randomly selected households in Inner Mongolia which were commercially involved in livestock breeding. All of these households were experiencing drops in their income compared to previous years. According to Li, this drop can be attributed to the degradation of the grasslands: “Because of ecological degradation and excessive cutting, the grassland could not supply enough hay, the herders have to expend much money to buy hay from outside. For most of the households the hay expenditure accounted for more than 50% of the total cost, while in the husbandry year 2000, the expenditure for buying hay only accounted for 22% of total expenses” (Li et al) . The amount of hay which could be extracted from the grassland has decreased at a disturbing rate, thus revealing the alarming rate of grassland degradation in Inner Mongolia as a whole.