The potential for rangeland development in Yak rearing areas of the Tibetan Plateau

This paper initially highlights the general characteristics of rangelands and pastoral production systems of the Tibetan Plateau.The article finds that:given the realities of life in a heterogeneous and marginal environment, the issue of secure resource tenure, both customary and legal, is fundamental for effective rangeland managementa simple shift in tenure from the communal (traditional and subsistence) to individual household level (ranching and commercial) will not be enough to facilitate a change in behaviour toward "rational" livestock operationsmany institutional mechanisms must be in place, including those that:achieve economy of scale in operations (including means to manage pastures in communal groupsensure against disastersfacilitate timely marketing and off-takeprotect commercial interestspromote collective action to soundly manage larger landscape amenitiespromoting and building such institutional mechanisms takes time for commercial ranching to work well, a socio-economic environment that is far from the current reality on the Tibetan PlateauThe article recommends:promote livestock mobilitypromote economic diversificationinitially reduce risk to the individual household by legitimising communal tenure and management of pasture resources so that those now dependent on the rangeland resource can have equitable access to resourcesbuild social cohesion through collaborative management of rangeland resources, with local communities in partnership with government extension, research, and administrative entitiespromote social and gender equity to ensure a fair livelihood base for all