Agricultural Settlement and Land Use in Mountains - Mountain Geography: Physical and Human Dimensions - page 562

families claim rights to each grazing zone, little documentation exists, and the resulting
first come, first served” strategy is a source of great tension among families.
FIGURE 11.12 Pastoralists return goats and sheep to camp, Chinese Pamir, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonom-
ous Region, western China. (Photo by S. F. Cunha.)
Although sole reliance on animals is risky, pastoralists enjoy several advantages over
sedentary farmers. Their highly mobile product (livestock) lets them transit from pas-
ture to pasture to take advantage of fickle mountain precipitation. Walking (driving)
their herds to market—instead of transporting them by truck or train—enables long-dis-
tance travel between markets. Unlike crops, animals represent an immediate food sup-
ply, available on demand throughout the year. Moreover, large beasts contribute valu-
able labor and transport functions. These walking larders or fields on the hoof comprise
much of a family's wealth.
Unlike most lowland farm and livestock operations, mountain grazing is an open
range affair where rivers, steep terrain, and snowline restrict movements. Managing ac-
cess to the high pastures is a communal concern determined by environmental and cul-
tural factors. Delineation of social groups and spatial boundaries depends on the abil-
ity to exclude outsiders and self-regulate shared pastureland, often without government
jurisdiction. This establishes a paradox where, on one hand, individual herders want to
maximize their income by increasing their number of livestock yet, on the other hand,
they must employ a group conscience to conserve their collective resource (Fernández-
Giménez 2002).
Swiss and Austrian pastoralists hold exclusive grazing rights to individual Alps (high
meadows), with rights to sell products and grazing rights as they wish. In partial con-