Property rights, social change, and grassland degradation in Xilingol Biosphere Reserve, Inner Mongolia, China

Dramatic economic growth and policy reform in China have resulted in great changes in resource use patterns. Pastoral areas in the north and northwest are among the areas affected by these changes, with grassland degradation identified as a major and increasing problem. We report here on a study undertaken in Xilingol Biosphere Reserve, Inner Mongolia (focused on Baiinxile Farm) where socioeconomic factors, including property rights reforms and open access to grazing land, have combined to promote unsustainable exploitation of the grassland resource by local herders. The study shows that, although biosphere reserves aim to establish sustainable development at a landscape scale, the current property rights regime in Baiinxile Farm associated with social change is driving local resource users toward greater degradation of the grasslands. The opportunity exists to build on existing village‐level institutions to develop a participatory communal resource management system to help protect the grassland's biodiversity and productivity.