From 'retire livestock, restore rangeland' to the Compensation for Ecological Services: State interventions into rangeland ecosystems and pastoralism in Tibet

This dissertation investigates China's tuimu huancao and destocking policy under a Compensation for Ecosystem Services program as a case study of how "received wisdom" environmental degradation narratives are used to justify state interventions into the livelihoods of minority pastoralists. Tuimu huancao calls for grazing bans and restrictions by fencing for the purpose of restoring purportedly degraded rangeland and protecting rangeland. The destocking policy is intended to adjust herd size to carrying capacity through a reward mechanism for the purpose of protecting rangeland.;It examines the scientific and theoretical foundations of these two policies and the way in which they are understood, received, negotiated, and contested in multiple ways through a case study from Nagchu Prefecture, Tibet. The framework for analyzing these two programs as state interventions draws from and contributes to political ecology. Field research of an ethnographic study has used a mix of methods that include detailed household surveys, in-depth, semi-structured interviews, oral histories, focus groups, transect walks, participatory mapping and participation observation.;This dissertation points out that tuimu huancao and the destocking policy have more to do with intensification of existing policy directions ultimately intended to transform traditional pastoralism than with rangeland degradation, restoration and protection. Hence, narratives of rangeland degradation underpinning tuimu huancao and the destocking policy serve to justify state interventions that aim to achieve this goal of transforming traditional pastoralism. Furthermore, broadly defined political and economic forces maintain the persistence of "received wisdom" on pastoralism and prevent alternative perspectives to existing policy directions. This dissertation also points out that Tibetan pastoralism can be well adapted to state interventions based on a middle way approach that accommodates both development and the livestock components of pastoralism. Nonetheless, the dissertation demonstrates that the formation of such a policy will not be easy because it will be a political process and can be jeopardized by officials' vested political and economic interests.