How can social and environmental services be provided for mobile Tibetan herders? Collaborative examples from Qinghai Province, China

Pastoralism

Research, Policy and Practice

Table 1 Indicators of community involvement and success within three main program areas.

	Village school A	Village school B	Village clinics	Collaborative management^a
Local ownership and participation in development initiatives
Initial discussions held by community	√	√	√	√
Key start-up decisions by community	√	√	√	√
On-going management by community	√	-	√	√
Local decisions re materials purchases	√	-	√	√
Involvement of community NGO	√	-	√	√
Production of participatory video	√	n/a	√	√
Local voices heard at roundtables	n/a	n/a	n/a	√
Measures of project sustainability
Continued staffing	√	√	√	√
Continued attendance	√	-	√	n/a
Middle School achievement	√	-	n/a	n/a
Salaries provided by government	√	√	√	√
Recognition of the value of rural development local voices by higher-level authorities
Local partnerships with SNNR^b	√		√	√
Qinghai Forest Bureau and GEF^c	√		√	√
QASS International Symposium^d	√		√	√

^aSeveral forms of collaborative management are being trialled in the project area, including 'community co-management' and 'contract conservation,' to promote more sustainable utilization and conservation of natural resources, including wildlife species. Local people also can engage in various forms of community development, so long as the environment is not degraded.^bThe Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve (SNNR) is now one of the key proponents of the value of working closely with local herding communities.^cBased on collaborative work begun in the Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve, the provincial Forest Bureau is now in the final stages of preparation for a large-scale project that may receive support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The development of genuine partnerships with herding communities is central in the proposed project.^dThe Qinghai Academy of Social Sciences (QASS) recently hosted the International Symposium on the Human Dimensions of Ecological Conservation on the Tibetan Plateau, from 21 to 26 September 2011. This significant meeting drew together professionals and government leaders from China and abroad to discuss how the social elements and the natural/physical elements of sustainability could become better integrated.