Paper short abstract:

The proposed paper is centred around the role of yak herding as a factor in land allocation process within the post-socialist reform in the Sayan mountains of southern Siberia which has positively influenced the sustainability of land use and allowed land allocation to be less prone to corruption.

Paper long abstract:

The proposed paper is centred around the role of yaks and yak herding as the determinants in land allocation process amid the post-socialist reform in the Sayan mountains of southern Siberia. Comparing results of the reform in several mountain communities it suggests that a domination of yak in a collective farm herd has allowed pasture allocation to individual households to be less prone to corruption but consistent with the local patterns of seasonal livestock transhumance. The paper presents such natural characteristics of yak as a resistance to cold, wolf resistance, and ability to graze on steep slopes and substitute water by snow as factors permitting local herders to build a viable production despite a shortage of land. Utilizing remote mountain slopes for grazing yaks lowered concentration of livestock on more conveniently located grazing land contributing to pasture sustainability.