Roles of Scholars in the Practice of Combating-Desertification: A Case Study in Northwest China Lihua Yang • Zhiyong Lan • Jianguo Wu Received: 25 April 2009 / Accepted: 2 July 2010 / Published online: 25 July 2010 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010 Abstract This study investigated the perceived impor- tance of scholars’ participation in combating-desertifica- tion programs in northwest China and analyzed the underlying factors and mechanisms. Our results show that, while various experts, professors, and researchers have participated in combating-desertification programs, their actions were often not effective. Only those scholars who understood the local situations adequately had important and positive impacts. These scholars served as information brokers between the governments and other stakeholders, entrepreneurial activity organizers for farmers, govern- mental representatives, or advocators for local affairs themselves. They played indispensible roles in facilitating efforts in combating desertification. The study also iden- tified key factors that led to the success of scholars’ par- ticipation in combating-desertification activities. Our findings have practical implications for improving the effectiveness of scholars’ participation in land restoration and environmental management. Keywords Combating desertification  Scholars’ participation  Land amelioration  Mechanisms of scholars’ participation  Environmental management Introduction Desertification refers to land degradation or the spread of desert-like conditions in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid regions, resulted primarily from human land use activities and climate change (Taddese 2001; UN 1992; Wu 2001, 2005). As one of the greatest environmental challenges of our times, desertification has been studied by researchers in a wide range of disciplines (Davis 2005; Lindskog and Tengberg 1994; Reed and others 2007; SACDS 1977; Seely 1998; Stringer and Reed 2007; Thomas 1997; Tho- mas and Twyman 2004). However, few have studied the roles that scholars may play in combating desertification (Yang 2009; Yang and Wu 2009, 2010). Based on a game theoretical analysis in collective action, Yang and his colleagues (Yang 2007a, b, 2009; Yang and Wu 2009) argued that scholars who have comparative advantages in knowledge could play an important role in the collective action of combating desertification. Scholars can play at least six kinds of roles: information providers for govern- ments and farmers or herders; entrepreneurial activity organizers (for farmers or herders); self-interest defenders; representative agents of the governments; representative agents of firms with stakes; and representative agents of NGOs and other groups involved. The term, ‘‘scholar,’’ here is defined in accordance to the traditional Chinese concept—‘‘shi’’ (±)—a respected L. Yang (&) School of Public Administration, Beihang University, No. 37 Xueyuan Rd, Beijing 100191, China e-mail: Lihua.yang@asu.edu; journeyyang@yahoo.com.cn Z. Lan School of Public Affairs, Arizona State University, 3720 411, North Central Avenue, Ste. 450, Phoenix, AZ 85004-0687, USA Z. Lan School of Public Administration, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China J. Wu School of Life Sciences and Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA J. Wu Sino-US Center for Conservation, Energy, and Sustainability Science, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, China 123 Environmental Management (2010) 46:154–166 DOI 10.1007/s00267-010-9534-y