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Rangelands provide several valuable ecological services and provide for the livelihoods of local herders on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). However, rangelands are being degraded due to overgrazing, policy changes and climate change. In this context, a survey was conducted in Zhuaxixiulong township of Gansu Province, China to examine the rangeland management systems and identify problems herders are facing in terms of livestock production and livelihoods using a Participatory Rural Appraisal approach. The results indicated that local herders perceived recent trends in rangeland degradation, climatic change, and political changes, and had developed management practices to adapt to these changes, such as adjusting transhumance patterns, cooperating with local institutions and adopting more collective actions in production practices. This study suggests that, to promote a sustainable rangeland management system in the QTP, policy-makers should recognise indigenous knowledge systems of grazing practices and rangeland management, as well as the need for more advanced technical methods. More attention should be paid to recent changes in climate, social transformations and economic changes to enhance the viability of such a pastoral society. To ensure the sustainability of the social–ecological system, there is a need to strengthen public participation and cooperation with all types of institutions to formulate appropriate policies and improve public services.

Because the sustainability of the economic development model has drawn much attention recently, the academic circle and the government have begun to focus on the population of minority areas. In past literature, due to the lack of the positive analysis of the relationship between minority population transition and economic development, and due to sample limitation and other factors, the research result is not very convincing. This paper used the economic convergence theory to establish a theoretical model, and selected the panel data in eight minority-concentrated provinces from 1992 to 2012 to analyze the impact of population transition in these provinces on economic growth. The result reveals a significant positive correlation between investment, human capital, the growth rate of labor and per capita GDP growth, a significant negative correlation between children's dependency ratio and per capita GDP growth, and an uncertain relationship between elderly dependency ratio and per capita GDP growth. To maximize the democratic dividend, it is necessary to speed up the development of educational undertakings in minority areas, and to accelerate the industrial structure transition of minority areas. It is also important to perfect institutional improvement of minority areas.

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China has been devoted to constructing ecological civilization since 2012. By establishing a legal framework, carrying out administrative reforms and advancing relevant S&T, China has entered a golden age of promoting ecological civilization. But there still exists many challenges in human-nature balance, central-local government relationships and policy implementation. Because China's actions have a significant impact on ecological and environmental situations, stakeholders should seize the opportunity to solve more difficult problems in sustainable development.

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