Impact Of Grassland Award Policy On Pastoral Satisfaction,Overgrazing Behavior And Livestock Reduction Decision-making

Reduction of livestock stocking rate is the key to achieve the goal of grassland ecological and environmental protection.This paper focuses on livestock reduction by herdsmen using data collected from 895 households in 15 counties across 5 grassland steppes.The samples were selected based on the horizontal zonal distribution pattern from east to west of Inner Mongolia.Using the theory of externality,public goods theory,the sustainable livelihood theory,the theory of agricultural subsidies and social practice theory,the relationship between grassland award policy and herders satisfaction,the livestock reduction behavior of herders,and the degree of grassland overload were investigated using binary logit regression model,multivariate logit regression model,multiple linear regression model,path analysis model,and econometric model.Specifically,this paper analyzes the factors affecting herders' level of satisfaction with the grassland award policy,overloading behavior,livestock reduction behavior,and livestock reduction intention of the pastoral households.Further,it evaluates the degree of success of the grassland compensation policy in conserving ecological functions,so as to provide the basis and support for improving the policy,as well as the efficiency of grassland ecological protection.The main conclusions are as follows.Firstly,the pastoral households have a high degree of satisfaction with the compensation policy and differences were observed across the ecological regions.(1)The pastoral households are adequately aware of the grassland subsidy policy in the survey area and the average degree of their satisfaction is 2.61,which lies between satisfied and very satisfied.Households that are very satisfied with the policy accounted for 65.4% of the surveyed population,those generally satisfied are 30.2%,and the unsatisfied households are only 4.4%.(2)There were significant regional differences in the degree of policy satisfaction among the pastoral households across the five grassland ecological types: sandy steppe > meadow steppe > desert steppe > steppe desert > steppe.(3)The age of the household head,circulation of grassland,income from grass and animal balance subsidy,change in livestock number and the policy implementation have a significant impact on herders level of satisfaction with the policy.Secondly,grazing remains the main livelihood strategy of herders and overloading is persistent,and negatively correlated with the operating scale of grassland.(1)The total livelihood capital of the pastoral households is 1.428,indicating a small stock of livelihood capital in the survey area;(2)Herdsmen have a higher family income and rank as the preferred livelihood strategy compared to petty-herdsmen and nonherdsmen.However,non-herdsmen are mainly dependent on government transfer and property income,which is at a subsistence level.(4)The overstocking rate of grassland decreased from 69.51% in 2010 to 44.70% in 2015,accounting for a decrease of 24.81%,but overstocking still persists.(5)Overstocking rate is positively correlated with the degree of dependence of herders on livestock production,and negatively correlated with grassland productivity and grassland operation scale.(6)The operating area of the grassland had a significant negative impact on whether or not the overgrazing occurs and the degree of overgrazing.The number of livestock and fixed assets in winter has a significant positive influence on overgrazing and the extent of overgrazing.Thirdly,the grassland subsidy policy has played a regulating role in reducing livestock.(1)The average livestock reduction rate was 28.75% after the first round of the grassland award policy.There was a negative correlation between the rate of livestock reduction,the area of grassland,and the degree to which herders depend on the animal husbandry.(2)The implementation of the reduction of animal behavior herders accounted for 65.64%,the livestock reduction rate was 28.75%,By implementing the grassland subsidy policy,the herders have reduced their livestock number,thus achieving part of the objectives of protecting the grassland ecological environment.(3)The grassland award funds and the distance between herdsmen family and city have a significant positive impact on whether herders choose to reduce livestock,while ethnic group,family income,livestock quantity and grassland type had a significant negative effect.The grassland award funds and the proportion of non-grazing income have a significant positive effect on herders' livestock reduction rate,while the rate of livestock reduction was relatively high in(state the name of the grassland type where it is higher)compare to others.Fourthly,the impact of the grassland award policy on herders' willingness to reduce livestock number showed that.(1)The proportion of herdsmen who are willing to sustain reduced livestock number is 11.51%,and those who are not willing to reduce their stock number is 88.73% under the current policy.(2)Raising the policy fund for grassland award can incentivize the willingness of herders to reduce livestock.According to the influence coefficient,the probability of herders' willingness to reduce livestock increases by 99.3% for every 1 unit increase in the fund for grassland award.(3)Under the theory of social practice,the total household income and the number of household livestock have a positive effect on the willingness of herders to reduce livestock.In contrast,the operating area of grassland and the total amount of household loans have an inhibitory effect on it.The age of the household head has a positive effect on their willingness to reduce livestock.The ethnic category and the household head educational level have an inhibitory effect on it.The occupation category of social capital can promote the willingness of herders to reduce livestock,and the number of household members employed in government agencies and institutions can inhibit herders' intention to reduce livestock.Based on the conclusions from this study,the following policy suggestions are put forward: there should be continuity in the policy implementation and its standard need to be improved.Regional differences need to be considered during the compensation policy implementation,instead of the "one size fits all" approach currently in use.More importantly,herders with smaller area of grasslands should be given special attention.The adjustment and incentive effect of the family capital endowment should be brought into play.This will help to catalyze the achievement of the goal of grassland conservation,for which the subsidy policy was enacted.