Do pasture user groups lead to improved rangeland condition in the Mongolian Gobi Desert?

Addison, J., Davies, J., Friedel, M., and Brown, C. (2013) Do pasture user groups lead to improved rangeland condition in the Mongolian Gobi Desert? Journal of Arid Environments, 94. pp. 37-46.

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Abstract

Pasture user groups have become an important tool by which development agencies have sought to improve rangeland condition and resolve inter-herder conflict. However the ability of these groups to improve rangeland condition in the Gobi Desert is rarely examined. In this paper, three and twelve year old pasture user group areas were compared with non-group areas. Herders and local officials in both group and non-group areas were interviewed to compare activities and institutions that may contribute to degradation through overgrazing. Soil and vegetation based indicators of rangeland condition were also assessed. There were some differences in indicators of rangeland condition between pasture user group and non-group areas, but little evidence of institutions or activities specific to the group that could explain this difference. Herders did not seek to manage grazing pressures for natural resource management aims, nor did they enforce or sanction the external spatial boundaries of pasture user groups. These results suggest that the ability of pasture user group to improve rangeland condition in the Mongolian Gobi Desert may have been overstated.

Item ID: 47858
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1095-922X
Keywords: collective action, common property, degradation, herder groups, institutions, variability
Funders: Australian Rangeland Society, Endeavour Research Fellowship, Desert Knowledge CRC, NT Research and Innovation Board, Royal Geographical Society of South Australia, University of Queensland, CSIRO, Mongolian Society for Rangeland Management, MercyCorps Mongolia
Date Deposited: 03 Apr 2017 03:19
FoR Codes: 05 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 0502 Environmental Science and Management > 050209 Natural Resource Management @ 50%
16 STUDIES IN HUMAN SOCIETY > 1604 Human Geography > 160403 Social and Cultural Geography @ 50%
SEO Codes: 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9607 Environmental Policy, Legislation and Standards > 960705 Rural Land Policy @ 50%
96 ENVIRONMENT > 9609 Land and Water Management > 960910 Sparseland, Permanent Grassland and Arid Zone Land and Water Management @ 50%
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