Beyond the National Environmental Programmes (NEPs): environmental governance in drylands China

Global environmental changes have exposed both humans and ecosystems to increasing uncertainties and complexities. The capacity to absorb changes, reorganise, and prepare for transformation, becomes critical for their survival and development, which is particularly the case for social-ecological systems in drylands where most local communities are underdeveloped, and lands are already subject to degradation. The overall aim of this research is to broaden understanding of governance required to safeguard land and promote sustainable rural livelihoods in drylands from the perspective of people on the ground, with a case investigation of China's National Environmental Programmes (NEPs) implemented to combat desertification over two decades.
To better understand different approaches to tackling desertification, the thesis compares the UNCCD’s “bottom-up” approach and China’s “top-down” approach, showing how knowledge, understanding, and engagement of different actors have evolved over time. Findings reveal a convergence between the two approaches and that similar challenges have been experienced, and policies are often politically and socioeconomically dependent besides science.
Through the lens of knowledge exchange (KE), the impacts of KE during NEPs implementation are examined through analysing interactions of different actors. Findings indicate that the dynamic socio-ecological systems require KE to change with changing contexts. Supportive institutional arrangements are necessary to facilitate successful KE, with findings pointing towards the need for building social capital for local communities.
By investigating the changes to local social-ecological systems and drivers from other scales, the lack of mechanisms for fostering social connections between local communities and outside actors is disclosed, with a situation where people on the ground are exposed to various changes without sufficient social security, exacerbating their pressures on land. A systemic approach featuring supportive institutional arrangements from other socioeconomic sectors and scales should be incorporated into environmental governance in dryland China, to protect land and facilitate resilience building of local communities.