Can individual land ownership reduce grassland degradation and favor socioeconomic sustainability on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau?

Although studies in the QTP are relatively scarce, research suggests that the notion that grassland contracts would address the region's social, economic and environmental problems should be revisited because there is a significant difference in LDN indicator values for IPP and JPP, and evidence of significant degradation in the decades before the 2015 baseline when the UNCCD adopted LDN and SDGs. Evidence suggests that JPP is a more resilient system, capturing the environmental benefits of nomadism and the socioeconomic benefits of land contracts. Given that some of the grasslands are already contracted to individual households, creative JPP property arrangements should be respected. A reconsideration of whether the not-yet-contracted grasslands should be contracted individually rather than jointly, is required if LDN is to be achieved on the QTP by 2030. If the current policy is maintained, research evidence suggests that JPP should be encouraged, and policy makers should seek better ways of ensuring long-term sustainability and that LDN is achieved to maintain the natural capital and associated ecosystem services of the QTP.