The perception of desertification, its social impact and the adaptive strategies of ecological migrants in the desertification area, China

Based on social influence theory, the Risk-Coping-Social Appraisal model, and data on land desertification, its social influence, and the adaptive measures of 506 households surveyed in Ordos and Bayan Nur, Inner Mongolia, China, we used the Heckman two-stage model and a multinomial logistic model and found the following. First, the perception of land desertification was a prerequisite for eco-migrants to employ adaptive strategies but did not necessarily indicate the adoption of adaptive countermeasures. Second, the social influences eco-migrants experienced at their resettlement site had a significant effect on their ability to employ countermeasures to land desertification. Third, asset variables that reflected migrant's coping ability positively affected perceptions of land desertification and subsequent adaptive countermeasures. To mitigate the negative effects of climate change and land desertification, the local government should encourage migrants to accumulate assets and help migrants to integrate into their new community. This can be achieved by propagandizing information on climate change through a range of channels, diversifying publicity content, and guiding migrants to learn about new technologies and methods for reducing land desertification to minimize related economic losses.