FARMERS' PERCEPTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION AND THEIR ADOPTION OF IMPROVED MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN ALXA, CHINA

Abstract

The environment and the natural resource base have been severely degraded in Alxa League, western Inner Mongolia, China, over the past half-century. This study reports surveys that reveal farmers' perceptions of environmental degradation and their adoption of improved management practices in this poor and remote desert region. Surveys were made in villages that had been engaged in a large environmental rehabilitation and management project [Alxa League environmental rehabilitation and management project (ALERMP)] and those that had not. The survey results showed that farmers perceived environmental degradation in terms of increased frequency and severity of sandstorms, movement of sand dunes..