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Paper short abstract

A group of Tibetan environmentalists and herders use state-endorsed rangeland conservation practices to legitimize pastoralists way of life, through artistic, multispecies visual narratives. These expressions make pastoralism narratable, legitimate, modern, and seemingly apolitical.

Paper long abstract

In order to combat rangeland degradation, the Chinese state has invested heavily in geoengineering projects such as reseeding. Based on a specific case study of a grassroots Tibetan rangeland conservation practice, this paper shows Tibetan herders and environmentalists in Zoige built upon such projects, but went beyond the state's conservation goal. Their practices address both the ecological and social reality of the rangeland: The rangeland is degrading and the continuation of pastoralism is at stake. Moreover, this case study highlights the importance and power of environmental storytelling. The herders use rangeland conservation to legitimize pastoralists' way of life through their artistic, multispecies, visual narratives. This case study demonstrates that an alliance with modern environmentalism and science not only lends legitimacy to Tibetan cultural practices, but also creates new meaning for contemporary Tibetan pastoralism by embedding it in modernity and internationality. These artistic expressions often connect pastoral cultural with global conservation ideas, charismatic, photogenic highland animals (e.g. snow leopards and black-necked cranes) and idyllic rangelands. These expressions makes pastoralism narratable, legitimate, modern, and apolitical, or provides political expression in a subtle rather than a confrontational manner.