Holistic Rangeland Management for Mitigating Desertification on the Grasslands of Inner Mongolia, China

My research explores practical solutions to preventing and reversing the growth of global deserts due to climate change and unsustainable development. In this case, it is grounded on the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, China, where poor policymaking and implementation has failed to halt the expansion of the Gobi Desert. Another consequence of these policies has been the displacement of many semi-nomadic ethnic Mongolian communities living on the grasslands. Inner Mongolia has essentially become Chinas dust bowl. I am currently examining the prospects for working with Mongolian herders to develop more holistic and sustainable methods of rangeland management which can simultaneously assist in the ecological restoration of the grasslands lost to the Gobi Desert.

Faculty Supervisor:

Alana Boland

Student:

Michael Pickering

Partner:

Discipline:

Geography / Geology / Earth science

Sector:

University:

University of Toronto

Program:

Globalink