What is a good grassland? Contrasting perspectives on greening of the Tibetan Plateau

Abstract The ongoing vegetational change on the Tibetan Plateau, where pastoralism has been the predominant way of life, is of regional and global importance. Although recent influential research suggests that the vegetation on the Tibetan Plateau has been greening, or improving, local yak herders in Nagchu (Tibetan Autonomous Region, China) report that their grassland has deteriorated. To understand this discrepancy, we critically analysed and contrasted remote sensing observations and ethnographic accounts within the framework of valuation studies. We argue that these seemingly contradictory observations are not mutually exclusive because the remote sensing data mainly focuses on the spatial vegetation coverage, whereas herders care about vegetation height and its nutritional quality as yak fodder. Taking into account that these two sets of data evade a direct comparison, valuation studies help to understand in what respect the underlying perspectives and observations—i.e. remote sensing and local experiences—can be understood as social activities in which assessments are made based on different criteria. Our study argues that a pluralistic way of understanding the grassland dynamics helps to understand the complexity of the changing environment.