Policy Question: What actions, if any, should be taken by Department of Environment of local government to prevent desertification in Inner Mongolia?
The client of this
case policymaker is Department of Environment of local government in Inner
Mongolia.
Policy options:
1. Business options: Changing the frame of local economy, decrease the proportion of farming and grazing; and Increasing grants and investment to build the sustainable system and increase jobs opportunities. One of the main reasons to cause the desertification is the overuse of grassland. People alter too much grassland to grazing or farming which will lead to desertification. The new policy could let people increase their income. At same time, people will stop overusing the grassland. The local ecosystem will have enough time to recover the previous damage.
2. Environment option: Vegetative cover is good choice to control the desertification. Because, the tree could be decrease the effect of wind to move the sand, the root of vegetative cover could hold the water and soil in the ground to avoid them loss. Therefore, planting reasonable amount of trees and grass by people will help to increase the ecosystem recover rate, which will prevent the desertification.
3. Status quo. This option will make the
policymakers keep the current situation, nothing will be changed. This option
will let people keep overusing the grassland, and the desertification becomes
worse and worse. Once the desertification cannot be stopped, it will destroy
the local ecosystem and environment, restrict local economy development, and
decrease local people’s income in the future.
Hi Zhiqian, I think it is a good question and really focused. You introduced the client of the policy, but I think you can explain a little bit more about what jobs they do and what kind of power it has on you topic. In addition you can also give us a comparison about the level of desertification between now and before, which may let us know the background and the reason you choose this topic.
ReplyDeleteAbout the options:
1. It is clear that you divide the options with two tags, economy and environment. About the economy option, it is helpful for me to understand your option choice as you explained the main cause of desertification and some potential solutions. I think you may tell more about what kind of and how sustainable system or job opportunities can be set up. For example, the local government provide taxes free to some industries to make more job opportunities.
2. In your second opinion, I think your option is quite a direct way to solve the problem. While you may provide some kinds of trees or plants can have a better solution on the improvement of the desertification.