Causes of overgrazing in Inner Mongolian grasslands: Searching for deepleverage points of intervention

. The legendary Mongolian Plateau has faced increasing environmental challenges associated with overgrazing, andachieving a sustainability transition for this region needs herders' participation. However, why herders let grasslands be overgrazedeven after property rights were privatized-the tragedy of privatization-remains unclear. We aimed to understand the causes ofovergrazing in Xilingol, Inner Mongolia, and sought deep leverage points of intervention by examining livestock decision-makingprocesses with semi-structured interviews. We found the following: (1) Herders generally recognized grassland degradation withdecreased plant diversity and vegetation height. (2) Nearly half of herders were not satisfied with their current quality of life, especiallyin terms of income, food security, energy security, and clean water. (3) Herders prioritized economic benefits and food provisioningservices of grasslands and did not think of overgrazing as an important cause for grassland degradation. (4) Herders tended to protecttheir own grasslands but over-exploited leased grasslands. (5) Herders tried to keep a high number of livestock without being able toanticipate climatic and economic fluctuations. (6) The government's Forage-Livestock Balance policy was widely ignored by herders.We conclude that herders' zeal for higher living standards, misperceptions about key drivers of grassland degradation, decoupling ofherders' income from grasslands, inability to cope with drought, and ineffective policies together constitute the underlying causes forovergrazing. Future grassland policies should focus more on the deep leverage points of intervention including reducing poverty andeconomic inequality, improving the grassland property system, reconnecting the long-term health of leased grasslands to herders'livelihoods, and developing holistic livestock management strategies that integrate science with herders' traditional ecological knowledge

Automated summary

This study aims to explore the causes of overgrazing in Xilingol, Inner Mongolia, and identify intervention points. The research finds that herders have a general recognition of grassland degradation but do not consider overgrazing as a significant factor. They prioritize economic benefits and food provisioning services. Herders tend to protect their own grasslands while over-exploiting leased grasslands. Additionally, the government's policies are widely ignored by herders. Therefore, future grassland policies should focus on reducing poverty, improving property systems, linking the health of leased grasslands to herders' livelihoods, and developing holistic livestock management strategies.