DOI: 10.5061/dryad.jsxksn0jn
title: Tibetan pastoralists' attitudes toward grassland degradation and restoration

description: Ecosystem restoration practices are gaining prominence in coping with the
 crisis of ecosystem degradation. To improve the long-term effectiveness of
 restoration activities, community engagement in restoration projects needs
 to be strengthened. In communities where traditional and local values
 drive adaptation to environmental changes, a community-engaged restoration
 approach requires the integration of restoration techniques and local
 value systems. In two pastoral communities on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau,
 we used the Q method to explore pastoralists’ attitudes towards grassland
 degradation and restoration and to understand different levels of
 community engagement in grassland restoration activities. Through this
 study, we aim to promote an understanding of the value-based approach of
 local communities to enable better community engagement for the long-term
 effectiveness of ecosystem restoration projects, and contribute to the
 achievement and synergy of global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
 The study revealed eight types of pastoralists with different attitudes in
 two communities, with the type of Active Agents leveraging
 transformative restoration action through creating value-inclusive
 narratives of grassland restoration in the community with a higher level
 of engagement in restoration practices. Alongside this, we explored the
 pastoralists’ perspectives of biodiversity in restoration and the
 importance of local elites in facilitating multiple-actor cooperation in
 restoration projects. We recommend that decision-makers recognize the
 significance of local worldviews and values in facilitating environmental
 adaptations, as well as the irreplaceable role played by local people in
 developing value-inclusive narratives that align with the local cultural
 context. Open dialogues and sufficient communication between multiple
 stakeholders are needed to build mutual trust and accumulate social
 capital for driving transformative actions in traditional communities.
 Such approaches are essential to foster community engagement and gain
 better momentum in ecosystem management initiatives.
description: This dataset was collected by the Q interviews. Before the
 interviews were conducted, all participants received verbal instructions
 based on the Participant Information Sheet, and consent was obtained using
 the Informed Consent Form. A snowball sampling method was used to recruit
 interviewees. We sought to maximize the diversity of attitudes and
 continued recruiting until no new attitude emerged. In this way, a total
 of 57 interviews were completed.
description: # Data archive\_Q interviews
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.jsxksn0jn](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.jsxksn0jn) The data contains two sheets. The first sheet presents the results of the Q survey for the Nyanze community, and the second sheet presents the results of the Q survey for the Kouta community. The data sheet has two variables: "R" represents the respondent (e.g., "R1" indicates the first respondent, "R29" indicates the 29th respondent), and "sta" represents the statement (e.g., "sta_1" indicates Statement 1, "sta_25" indicates Statement 25). The scores show the respondents' degree of agreement or disagreement with each statement on a scale of -4 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree), with 0 being neutral. This dataset was collected by the Q interviews. Before the interviews were conducted, all participants received verbal instructions based on the Participant Information Sheet, and consent was obtained using the Informed Consent Form. A snowball sampling method was used to recruit interviewees. We sought to maximize the diversity of attitudes and continued recruiting until no new attitude emerged. In this way, a total of 57 interviews were completed. The questionnaire used in the Q interviews was included in this dataset.