Old clay house in Gaojia village, Chunhua County, Shaanxi
(Picture taken by Jinghua Ou)
INTRODUCTION
Ecological degradation in Western China, and the Loess Plateau in particular, has resulted in a loss of ecosystem services such as nutrient cycling and retention, soil aggregation stability, carbon sequestration and resistance to invasive species. This is largely caused by the behaviours of local farmers whose livelihoods depend mainly on cultivation on slope lands.
To cope with massive poverty and soil erosion in this region, the Chinese government has adopted many engineering and economic measures since the late 1990s including a “Grain for Green” programme. This top-down strategy however needs reviewing for many reasons. These include the negative impact of non-native species on biodiversity; effects of soil drying and plant stunting caused by perennial shrubs and trees; and the complexity of farmers’ needs, interests and alternative livelihoods.
The dilemmas facing the Chinese government and professionals call for effective communication between professionals and local people, so that the latter’s voices, knowledge and conservation strategies are fully taken into account. In this regard, a farmer innovation system (FIS) was conceptualised by the Principal Investigator (PI) a couple of years ago based upon his intensive fieldwork in north Shaanxi.
The FIS serves the functions of observing and analysing farmer innovation needs, as well as potential changes in behaviour in coping with social and environmental challenges posed by ecological degradation. Key deliverables from this project will be the dissemination and development of the FIS studies through establishing an international, training and interdisciplinary collaborative network among scholars from British and Chinese institutions. The emphases of the network activities will be on localised (bottom-up) conservation strategies (at the crop and farm levels, whether abandoned or in production) and on the potential for enhancing biodiversity and alternative livelihoods at the landscape level.
This project is jointly sponsored by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) under the Ecosystem Services and Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) research programme. It is a one-year project with total funding of £120,000 starting from 1 December 2008.
This website aims to (1) provide an outline of the project; (2) propose a framework for project planning and implementation; and (3) offer some suggestions for further discussion and exchange amongst members of the research consortium.
A project jointly funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Department for International Development (DfID) under the Ecosystem Services and Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) programme
Project contact: Dr Bin Wu (Principal Investigator)
