The Desertification Narrative in China

Chinese officials and scholars ascribe land degradation to previous governmental regimes and local land users, particularly ethnic pastoralists, which are always criticised as ignorant, irrational, backward and uncooperative. The ethnic pastoralists are the clear losers in the desertification discourse in China, who have always been damaged by central planning, land use policy and government ideas on rangeland. There is no reliable objective data found to believe that the Grain-first campaign and land reclamation have greatly led to land degradation in China. There is skepticism about the Chinese government's recent enclosure policy on rangeland, which is thought to be effective in preventing land degradation by transforming nomadic pastoralism into sedentary livestock farming.