Local perceptions of grassland degradation in China: a socio-anthropological reading of endogenous knowledge and institutional credibility

Abstract

As the third contribution in the ‘Land’ section, this paper explores the interactions between institutional credibility and epistemic diversity within grassland management in China’s Inner Mongolia and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. It proceeds in two steps. First, a literature review ascertains that privatization of grassland use rights in Inner Mongolia is contested by a local predisposition for pastoral mobility. Advances in rangeland ecology validate the need for mobility, thus highlighting how pastoralists and policymakers have been evaluating the grasslands not only from unequal positions of power but also on epistemologically contradictory terms. Secondly, through a case study of two villages in Ningxia, it is demonstrated that – under equal circumstances of a Grazing Ban – the rural community that uses grassland primarily as a resource to be converted to agricultural production (thus posing a heavier use on grassland) perceives ecological improvement. Contradictorily, the community that is grassland-dependent for herding or opportunistic dryland farming, and is hampered in that use by land degradation prevention policies, does not perceive improvement. The diverging perceptions of degradation among semi-pastoralist communities examined in this study suggest a more participatory approach towards institution-making can bring closer the knowledge and environmental perceptions of various actors, thus opening up opportunities for more credible institutional arrangements.

Keywords:

• Chinese rangeland and natural resource management
• grazing ban
• institutional credibility
• empty institution
• environmental perception
• epistemic relativism

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to express their thanks to the anonymous reviewers of this journal for their helpful and constructive comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 It should be noted that this use of ‘endogenous knowledge’ is a radical departure from using this term as an equivalent or even enhancement over ‘local’ or ‘indigenous knowledge’, as some have proposed (Grossman and Devisch 2002).

2 The collective is a contradictory entity on its own, since Chinese legal code does not include a precise definition of what constitutes collective ownership, and permits various permutations of collective title holders and management arrangements (Ho 2001, 406).

3 SKL and DGY are place name abbreviations. Full names are not provided in order to preserve a level of anonymity to the communities and individuals involved in this research.

4 Legally speaking, herders and farmers in China can only lease grassland and agricultural land from the rural collective. Thus, land ownership remains with the collective, while individuals are granted the right to use land.

5 Calculated using conversion standards provided in the Ministry of Agriculture standard NY/T 635-2002 ‘Calculation of proper carrying capacity of rangelands' Addendum A.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) [grant number 71473286].

Notes on contributors

Heng Zhao

Heng Zhao is a full professor of biodiversity and environment at Minzu University of China, Beijing. After she obtained her PhD from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1996, she worked at the universities of Amsterdam and Wageningen in The Netherlands for over 10 years. Prior to her current professorship, she was a full professor at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing and full professor at the China Agricultural University. Prof. Zhao has published over 40 articles indexed by the Social Sciences Citation Index or the Science Citation Index on issues of genetic modification, biodiversity and environmental biology, with particular reference to natural resource aspects and biosafety, in journals with impact factors up to 5.8. She has conducted numerous projects funded, amongst others, by the High-talent Fellowship of the Chinese Ministry of Education, Chinese National Key Fundamental Science, the State High Technology Foundation, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, The Netherlands North–South Fund and the European Union.

Karlis Rokpelnis

Karlis Rokpelnis is a PhD candidate in ethnoecology at the Minzu University of China where he conducts research on knowledge and perception of land degradation in the drylands of northwest China, especially Ningxia Autonomous Region. Karlis has taught college-level mobile-learning courses such as ‘Ethnic Studies in Tibet’ and ‘Environmental Issues in Yunnan’ for study-abroad programmes in Beijing and Kunming, and has led numerous educational tours throughout China. Along with his doctoral research, he has also conducted research on land rights issues in China for The Nature Conservancy. Karlis holds an MPhil in environmental policy from the University of Cambridge and a BA in Environmental Politics from Whitman College (cum laude). Originally from Latvia, Karlis has lived and travelled in indigenous areas in Canada, Russia, USA, Scandinavia and Australia, and has lived in China for most of the last decade.