Effects of Government Grassland Conservation Policy on Household Livelihoods and Dependence on Local Grasslands: Evidence from Inner Mongolia, China

Du, Bin; Zhen, Lin; Yan, Haiming; Groot, R.S. de

doi:10.3390/su8121314

Cited by 31 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…The authors further strengthened that, where farmers and herders are literate with moderate skills, existing bonds with their social network and culture prevent them from migrating. Even though the educational level of household members did not influence the choice of herders strategies, our result is in agreement with Du et al [51] as the proportion of herders families and petty-herders families were larger than that of non-grazing families, an indication that a larger percentage of the surveyed households derive benefits from grassland resources, although at varying levels. In addition, these households (herders' families and petty-herders families) possess high social capital which guarantees access to credit and insurance, and is consequently reflected in their total household income (Ansoms and Mckay, 2010) [1].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Influence of Livelihood Capitals on Livelihood Strategies of Herdsmen in Inner Mongolia, China

et al. 2018

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Herders’ living strategy is a function of the capitals at their disposal which also serve as a buffering mechanism when shocks arise. An insight into the connection between livelihood strategies and capitals owned by herders provides guidance to recognize their living situation. This study evaluated the different livelihood capitals of herders across the five ecological types (meadow, typical, desert, sandy, and desert steppe) in Inner Mongolia region of China, using the sustainable livelihood framework approach. An evaluation index was developed and used to investigate how the livelihood capitals of herders affects preferential selection of livelihood strategies using multinomial logit model. Results indicate that: (1) The stocks of human and social capitals were higher while those for natural, physical, and financial capitals were lower. (2) There were significant regional differences in the livelihood capital stock of herders’ families with zonal horizontal decrease from east to west. (3) Natural capitals affects the preferential selection of livelihood strategies by herders positively implying that possession of more natural capitals by herders leads to selection of livelihood strategies that are devoid of pastoral production; the preferred livelihood strategy of herders was significantly negatively affected by physical and financial capitals, an indication that, when herders possess more physical and financial capitals, they tend to choose livelihood strategies that involve pastoral production. The living strategy of herders was not affected by human and social capitals. (4) Production of rented pasture capital index affected the preferential selection of livelihood strategies by herders positively while cash income capital index had negative influence on how pastoralists select their livelihood strategies. In conclusion, the total livelihood capital of herders in Inner Mongolia is low, and there is perceived benefit in the differentiation of herders families into petty-herders and non-grazing families from the perception of natural resource management and sustainability. This requires income diversification programs such as capacity building and business education that will aid the smooth transition of households to these less resource exploiting livelihood strategies.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Influence of Livelihood Capitals on Livelihood Strategies of Herdsmen in Inner Mongolia, China

et al. 2018

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“…Financial assets only remained in the model of the entire area, in which they exerted a significant impact on the incomes of rural households, i.e., rural households can increase their income by increasing financial assets [45,68,84,85]. Financial assets had an insignificant impact on the household income of the farmers in the sub-areas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study on Livelihood Assets-Based Spatial Differentiation of the Income of Natural Tourism Communities

Zhang

et al. 2018

Sustainability

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Livelihood assets have a significant impact on the livelihood options and income of tourism communities. The level of tourism development and the type of natural tourism communities often exhibit spatial differences. By using the method of sustainable livelihood and examining the main factors that affect community income from the perspective of spatial heterogeneity, it is possible to identify the livelihood assets that play the most critical role in the development of sustainable livelihoods and income generation in the community, which helps provide more reasonable advice on tourism destination management. In this article, we conducted a case study on 16 communities in and around Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve in Sichuan Province, China, and divided the communities into three types, i.e., core attraction areas, service support areas, and secondary service support areas, according to the geographical and spatial characteristics, tourism development level, and livelihood type. The participatory assessment method was adopted to obtain in-depth interviews and questionnaire data from 256 rural households, which was utilized to construct four multivariate regression models to investigate the effect of livelihood assets on community income and the spatial difference of the factors that affect community income. The results showed that (1) livelihood assets exert a significant impact on community income in tourist areas, with a remarkable spatial difference; (2) the types of livelihoods and the effective utilization of livelihood assets have a significant impact on farmers' incomes; (3) the type and amount of livelihood assets have a certain impact on the choice of livelihood; and (4) a farmer's livelihood type determines the utilization method and the effective utilization of livelihood assets.

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“…According to the simulation results in scenario 1 and 3, where the grazing control exists to different extents, the livestock amount would decrease and herders would not be able to achieve basic living standards in scenario 3 with strict constraints. The decreasing livestock strategy corresponds with the reality, according to the field survey analysis by Du et al [16], however, Du et al's study also points out that with the grazing control policy, household dependence on grassland is also decreased; diversification of income source would ensure the basic living standard of local households. In our study, we only focus on the relationship of grassland ecosystem supply and consumption, and we acknowledge that under strict grazing control, the production from grassland cannot meet the basic living needs of households.…”

Section: Exploring the Possibility Of A Balanced Land Management Methmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, some negative effects have also occurred for local residents (e.g., decreasing the living level of herders due to reduced income, increased unemployment rate due to low education levels, etc.) [16]. Meanwhile, the government is also facing funding pressure for the continuous delivery of subsidies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agent-Based Modeling of Sustainable Ecological Consumption for Grasslands: A Case Study of Inner Mongolia, China

et al. 2019

Self Cite

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Sustainable ecosystem services consumption is of vital importance to the survival and development of human society. How to balance the conflicts between ecosystem protection and ecosystem services consumption by local residents has been a serious challenge, especially in ecologically vulnerable areas. To explore the reasonable ecosystem services consumption approaches of grassland ecosystems for sustainable land system management, this study takes Hulun Buir of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region as a case study region and develops an EcoC-G (ecological consumption of grassland) model based on herders’ livelihood behaviors using the agent-based model technique to simulate the dynamics of ecosystem pressure, livestock production, and living quality of herders under different grassland management scenarios over the next 30 years. The EcoC-G model links the supply and consumption of grassland ecosystem services by calculating the ecosystem net primary productivity (NPP) supply and household NPP consumption. The model includes three sub-models, namely, the individual status transferring sub-model, the households’ grassland-use decision sub-model, and the ecosystem pressure sub-model. In accordance with multi-objective grassland management practices, the following four land management scenarios were simulated: (1) baseline scenario, (2) increasing household’s living standard, (3) ecosystem protection, and (4) balancing living standard improvement with the protection of the ecosystem. The result indicates that by focusing on the NPP supply and consumption of the grassland ecosystem, the EcoC-G is capable of simulating the impacts of herders’ livelihood behaviors on grassland ecosystems. If timely grassland management strategies are implemented, it is possible to relieve the ecosystem pressure and improve the livelihood of local herders. The specific scenario simulation results are: (1) Under the current grassland management mode, the pasture could never be overgrazed, and herders could achieve the basic living standard, but the accumulated wealth decreased due to the decline of livestock. (2) With grazing control, herders can accumulate wealth by increasing the breeding amount and reducing the marketing rate, but the ecosystem consumption pressure can reach a maximum of 2.3 times. (3) With strict restrictions on the livestock number, the pressure on the ecosystem decreases; however, herders might not achieve basic living standards. (4) Modest regulation leads to rational ecological consumption intervals, meaning the ecosystem pressure will become stable and herders can gradually accumulate wealth with the achievement of basic living standards in advance.

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Effects of Government Grassland Conservation Policy on Household Livelihoods and Dependence on Local Grasslands: Evidence from Inner Mongolia, China

Cited by 31 publications

References 30 publications

Influence of Livelihood Capitals on Livelihood Strategies of Herdsmen in Inner Mongolia, China

Influence of Livelihood Capitals on Livelihood Strategies of Herdsmen in Inner Mongolia, China

Study on Livelihood Assets-Based Spatial Differentiation of the Income of Natural Tourism Communities

Agent-Based Modeling of Sustainable Ecological Consumption for Grasslands: A Case Study of Inner Mongolia, China

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