Overgrazing

STATE of PASTURELAND: FACTS & FIGURES

Overgrazing associated with livestock breeding practice exceeding rangeland carrying capacity degrades natural habitat for wildlife. It forces wildlife to migrate further in search for better habitats, thus increasing risk of exposure to human-wildlife conflicts.

• 70% of the country's pasture land is dedraded due to overgrazing according to findings of scientists.
• Degraded land in turn is occupied by rodents: plague by Brandt voles and grasshoppers requiring periodic infestations.
• Stock size has increased 1.3 times with goat herd size doubled in 1995 against 2000 in the Altai Sayan eco-region alone.
• Adverse impacts of overgrazing on local livelihood result from flawed policy of overall animal quantity over quality and breeds rather than the preference for quality over quantity, therefore contradicting to long-term sustainability.
• Pressure on natural resource base increases when there is not much to offer for a range of alternative livelihood and small and medium size business development at local level.
• Application of persistent organic pollutants for infestation and synthetic fertilizers for wide-spread farming practices in western provinces indicate of the degraded state of land fertility and pastureland quality.