Re-formulating Land and Resource Management Policies: Devolving Decision-making Power to Local Communities in China and Mongolia

This is a brief overview of the issues surrounding the concept and application of devolution of decision-making in the context of rural peoples in two Asian countries. The mechanics of devolution (the how, why and what) are discussed as well as the instruments of devolution. Three case studies are presented to illustrate the experience of local people trying to deal with intense competition for limited resources. China provides two case studies, the first about village-level rangeland management in an environmentally sensitive catchment of a major tributary to the Yellow River in Qinghai and the second relates to experience with Water User Associations in the river basins of the Hexi Corridor in Gansu. Mongolia provides the third Case study. It deals with legislative reform for grassland and rangeland management and the role of Pasture User Groups in self-management of the precious grazing and water resources so vital to the herdsmen.