Informal Grassland Protection Networks in Inner Mongolia

Abstract

This chapter explores the formation, activities, and features of informal grassland protection networks by which rural herders in Inner Mongolia connect to outside world, including Beijing and beyond. The chapter focuses on three particular networks: the first based on personal relationships between Inner Mongolian herders and Educated Youth living in Beijing; the second formed by a group of Educated Youth who went to Eastern Ujimchin grassland together during the 1960s and the 1970s; and the third, a loosely structured and open network based on a shared concern for grassland. Uchralt Otede argues that these informal networks have become the most reliable resource for local people to address the major challenges affecting life on the Inner Mongolian grasslands today.