Data from: Opportunities to integrate herders’ indicators into formal rangeland monitoring: an example from Mongolia

Despite increasing calls for knowledge integration around the world,
traditional knowledge is rarely used in formal, Western science-based
monitoring and resource management. To better understand indicators
herders use and their relationship to researcher-measured indicators, we
conducted in-depth field interviews with 26 herders in three ecological
zones of Mongolia. We asked each herder to 1) assess the overall condition
of three different sites located along a livestock-use gradient from their
winter camp using a numeric scale, 2) describe the indicators they used in
their assessment, and 3) explain what caused their pastures to remain
healthy or become degraded. At each site, we collected field data on
vegetation variables and compared these with herders’ ratings and
indicators using linear regression. We used classification and ordination
to understand how herders’ assessment scores related to plant community
composition, and determine how well multivariate analysis of factors
determining plant community composition aligned with herders’ observations
of factors causing rangeland change. Across all ecological zones, herders
use indicators similar to those used in formal monitoring. Herders’
assessment scores correlated significantly and positively with measured
total foliar cover in all three ecological zones, and with additional
measured variables in the steppe and desert steppe. Ordination revealed
that herder assessment scores were correlated with the primary ordination
axis in each zone, and the main factors driving plant community
composition in each zone were the same as those identified by herders as
the primary causes of rangeland change in that zone. These results show
promise for developing integrated indicators and monitoring protocols and
highlight the importance of developing a common language of monitoring
terminology shared by herders, government monitoring agencies, and
researchers. We propose a new model for integrating herder knowledge and
participation into formal monitoring in Mongolia, with implications for
rangelands and pastoral people globally. We suggest practical ways of
involving herders in formal monitoring that have potential broad
application for promoting local and indigenous people’s participation in
implementing international agreements such as the UN Convention to Combat
Desertification and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, both of
which call for involvement of local people and indigenous/traditional
knowledges.