Abandoning the High GroundThe Ecological Implications of Pastoral Abandonment in Tibet

Gerald RochePost-doctoral Research FellowHugo Valentin Center, Uppsala University

Gerald.Roche@valentin.uu.sehttps://uppsala.academia.edu/GeraldRoche

3rd Himalayan Studies Conference, Yale UniversityMarch 14-16, 2014

DSC00558.JPG

FOLLOWING THE HERDS: RHYTHMS OF TIBETAN PASTORAL LIFE IN A

MDO

…our data even point to an early start of a nomadic (!) Anthropocene nearly 6000 years ago. Against the background of a very long grazing history, modern Tibet must be seen as a cultural landscape. (Schlütz and Lehmkuhl 2009)

...we concluded that… human agricultural and husbandry practices created and maintained meadow habitats. (Urgenson et al. 2014)

…pastoralists in the eastern Tibetan highlands created their own environment transforming forests and tall grassland into the present golf course-like pastures. (Miehe et al. 2009)

Deforestation in the past shows a clear pattern in developing Eastern Tibet as a grazing land… All of this resulted in extensively replacing forest areas by grasslands… (Winkler 1996)

The Tibetan Grasslands as an Anthropogenic Landscape

1. Archaeological evidence2. Observational evidence3. Comparative evidence

Pastoral Abandonment in Tibet

1. Push factors1. privatization2. rationalization of production3. environmental protection4. new socialist countryside5. education

2. Pull factors

The Consequences of Pastoral Abandonment

1. Scale

1. Local scale – biodiversity 2. Regional scale – hydrology 3. Global scale – climate

The Consequences of Pastoral Abandonment

Conclusion

1. Tibetan grasslands are anthropogenic2. These grasslands are being abandoned 3. The impacts of this abandonment are

unknown but potentially large

HOWEVER, we still know little about pastures were traditionally managed:4. Fire5. Yak breeding and managing6. Traditional protected areas