Maintaining the Human–Natural Systems of Pastoralism in the Himalayas of South Asia and China

Palaeoenvironmental proxies indicate long-term development of agro-pastoralist landscapes in Inner Asian mountains

“…Ethnographic case studies 20 , 21 of present day agro-pastoralist groups across the Inner Asian mountains indicate their social-ecological systems developed through long-term processes of landscape evolution and accumulated indigenous knowledge. These flexible systems are well-adapted to ecological management across the region and well positioned to respond to short and long-term climate or environmental variability 20 , 22 .…”

“…Ethnographic case studies 20 , 21 of present day agro-pastoralist groups across the Inner Asian mountains indicate their social-ecological systems developed through long-term processes of landscape evolution and accumulated indigenous knowledge. These flexible systems are well-adapted to ecological management across the region and well positioned to respond to short and long-term climate or environmental variability 20 , 22 . It has been noted that interventions by colonial administrators, modern governments and other agencies have had detrimental effects on the finely-balanced social-ecological systems these groups inhabit and manage 20 , 23 , 24 .…”

“…These flexible systems are well-adapted to ecological management across the region and well positioned to respond to short and long-term climate or environmental variability 20 , 22 . It has been noted that interventions by colonial administrators, modern governments and other agencies have had detrimental effects on the finely-balanced social-ecological systems these groups inhabit and manage 20 , 23 , 24 . As in other parts of the world, we argue that archaeological and palaeoenvironmental studies may make a significant contribution to documenting and preserving these traditional ecological systems, through examining long-term processes of human-landscape interaction in the IAMC 17 , 24 .…”

Withering of traditional institutions? An institutional analysis of the decline of migratory pastoralism in the rangelands of the Kailash Sacred Landscape, western Himalayas

“…While these studies have tried to capture various socio-economic and environmental factors undergirding this decline, there has been relatively little research on understanding how changes in institutions at multiple levels have overarching implications both directly on migratory pastoralism, as well as on these other factors effecting its decline in the Himalayas. Some studies that attempt addressing the role of institutions vis-à-vis migratory pastoralism in this regard include Goldstein and Beall (1990), Agrawal and Ostrom (2001), Gerwin and Bergmann (2012), and Dong, Shaoliang, and Yan (2016). The case study presented here intends to add to this literature by providing an analysis of the various factors that have contributed to the present day vulnerability of migratory pastoralism among three borderland communities at the Himalaya-Tibetan plateau interfacenamely the Shaukas, the Humli Bhotiyas, and the Drokpasfrom an institutional perspective.…”