Обеспечение прав пастухов на землю сохраняет 44% мировых пастбищ и борется с изменением климата

Pastoralists Are Protecting Many of the World’s Remaining Rangelands An analysis shows that when pastoralists' land rights are secure, rangelands stay healthier and keep storing carbon, sustaining food and supporting the livelihoods of millions of people. As the sun sets on the vast grasslands of Mongolia’s Eastern Steppe, herders can often be seen guiding sheep, goats, cattle, camels and horses across the open landscape, moving steadily toward fresh pastures and natural springs that have emerged after seasonal rains. By dusk, herders meet their families back at their campsite before packing up their white felt gers (traditional Mongolian tents) and continuing a journey their ancestors have followed for generations. Against backdrops of rolling hills and distant mountains, pastoralists all over the world are not simply raising and herding livestock, they are stewarding some of Earth’s remaining intact grasslands. Together, these landscapes and their keepers provide food, income and environmental benefits to close to 2 billion people. Their seasonal movements also allow vegetation to recover, strengthening the land’s resilience to drought and degradation, while helping conserve biodiversity and mitigate climate change. Indigenous Peoples and local communities, who make up the majority of pastoralists, stewarded at least 44% of the world's rangelands (grasslands and shrublands used primarily for grazing livestock) — about 1.4 billion hectares — in 2024, according to an analysis that combines global maps of Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ territories from LandMark with Global Nature Watch data on rangeland extent, soil carbon and land-use conversion. The analysis also shows that, when pastoralists’ land rights are secure, rangelands are more likely to remain ecologically intact while providing vital benefits, including storing carbon to mitigate climate change and securing food and livelihoods for millions of people — underscoring the cascading benefits from pastoralists’ management of these lands. In some countries, such as Australia, where more than three-quarters of the country’s rangelands fall within Aboriginal territories, this stewardship is especially significant. Other countries like Russia, China, Sudan, Botswana and Mongolia similarly have among the highest total area of pastoralist-held rangelands in the world. What Are Rangelands? Rangelands are open landscapes dominated by grasses, shrubs and other native vegetation that can support grazing livestock. For this analysis, rangelands are defined as natural or semi-natural grasslands using data developed by the Global Pasture Watch consortium. Under this definition, rangelands include relatively undisturbed native grasslands and short-height vegetation, such as steppes and tundra, and may contain a mix of native and introduced species due to historical land use and natural processes. In general, these areas are a mosaic of grasses, shrubs and other vegetation alongside well-connected streams, rivers and other bodies of water. Who Are Pastoralists? Pastoralists are people whose livelihoods depend primarily on raising and herding livestock on rangelands. From the arid steppes of Central Asia and South America to the Arctic tundra, an estimated 500 million pastoralists globally herd animals such as cattle, sheep, goats, camels, yaks, llamas, buffalo, horses and reindeer, moving them seasonally to follow fresh grazing and water. The animals provide pastoralists with meat, milk, fiber (wool or hides) and transportation that they use to sustain their families and generate income. About the Data Given that most pastoralists identify themselves as Indigenous Peoples or local communities, for this analysis, maps of Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ lands from LandMark were cross-referenced with a map of rangelands to define the extent of pastoralists’ lands. While LandMark data is the best available global map of Indigenous Peoples' and local communities' lands, the lack of data availability in areas such as Central Asia and the Middle East, where pastoralism is common, means this analysis underestimates the global extent of pastoralism. Rangelands and Pastoralists Are Integral to Healthy Ecosystems and Livelihoods Pastoralists have a unique cultural identity rooted in the land. Their traditional land management practices sustain healthy and diverse vegetation cover, productive soils and natural ecological processes that enhance rangeland resilience to drought, erosion and land degradation, while also maintaining ecosystem services such as water regulation and carbon storage. As a result, these practices keep rangelands resilient to climate change. In turn, these healthy ecosystems provide a reliable foundation for livestock production, food security and the cultural and economic well-being of pastoralist communities as climate and environmental pressures escalate. Legally Recognized Indigenous- and Community-Held Rangelands Are Better Protected Pastoralist communities and the rangelands upon which they depend are increasingly threatened by land-use conversion, particularly agricultural expansion, industry and infrastructure development. These changes — especially on lands where Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ land rights are not recognized — reduce their access to grazing lands, limit seasonal movement and fuel conflict over land and resources. Ecologically, this kind of land-use conversion damages the ecosystem, ultimately limiting the ability of these landscapes to store carbon and mitigate climate change. However, data shows that rangelands managed by Indigenous Peoples and local communities have much lower land-use conversion rates when their land rights are secure. Globally, between 2016 and 2024, an average of 14 million hectares of rangelands per year were lost to land-use conversion. But only 8% of this loss occurred where Indigenous Peoples and local communities had secure land rights. The remaining 92% of rangeland loss occurred in areas where Indigenous Peoples and local communities did not have secure land rights, their legal situation was unknown or the rangelands were outside mapped Indigenous and local community territories. In other words, one of the best strategies for protecting rangelands and the important services they provide is to ensure that pastoralists have secure legal rights to manage them. For example, in Kenya, many of the livestock routes that pastoralists use to move their herds to fresh pastures, watering holes or markets are under threat. The routes that have historically been used are no longer passable, mainly due to infrastructural development or agricultural encroachment and land conversion, as well as the spread of invasive plant species. These blockages mean that more animals must graze on fewer available pastures, leading to overuse and degradation of the grasses as well as conflict over limited resources. These issues can lead pastoralists to reduce their herds or even abandon their livelihoods, causing decreased food security, less resilient rangelands and loss of their cultural identity. As climate change shifts vegetation patterns, protecting pastoral corridors will be increasingly important to preserving mobility, sustaining productive rangelands and maintaining pastoral ways of life. Pastoralist-Held Rangelands Store Large Amounts of Soil Carbon Soil organic carbon is a key indicator used to assess ecosystem condition, land degradation and climate mitigation potential. Higher soil carbon stocks mean healthier, more resilient soils that improve water regulation, nutrient cycling and sustained ecosystem productivity. Pastoralist-held rangelands store large amounts of carbon in their soil. As of 2020, these rangelands held 44 billion metric tons of soil organic carbon in the topsoil, accounting for 38% of the total amount of carbon stored in the world’s rangelands. If all of this soil carbon were to be emitted into the atmosphere, it would be equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions from 37 billion gasoline-powered vehicles driven for one year. In some regions, pastoralist-held rangelands have higher soil carbon densities than other rangelands. In the peat-rich rangelands of Russia, Canada, the United States (Alaska), Norway, Sweden and Finland, Indigenous-held rangelands hold an average of 88 metric tons of soil organic carbon per hectare, which is more than double the average for rangelands globally. Of the 44 billion metric tons of soil carbon that is managed by pastoralists, only 40% is stored within lands that are legally recognized as belonging to pastoralists. The remaining 60% of the carbon is stored in pastoralists’ rangelands that are not legally recognized (49%) or under an unknown legal recognition status (11%), and is thus at greater risk of conversion to other uses that would result in the loss of stored carbon. To Protect Rangelands, Protect the Rights of Pastoralists Pastoralists’ unique way of life — with their livelihoods dependent on moving their herds across landscapes — means they need unique legal frameworks that protect their mobility and ensure they can access and manage grazing lands as seasons and weather patterns change. Protecting these rights, in turn, will benefit rangelands, where agriculture, industry and development are increasingly competing for the same land. The International Land Coalition and partners recently published a set of indicators that can be used to assess the extent of tenure security for pastoralists, and where laws or their implementation can be strengthened. In countries like Burkina Faso in Africa and Mongolia, for example, pastoralism laws need to be strengthened to address gaps in protecting mobility and to establish mechanisms for addressing land-use conflicts. In India, laws protecting grazing rights and access to common lands exist but are not fully implemented. Secure land rights are an investment in healthy, resilient rangelands. By enabling pastoralists to continue stewarding these landscapes, legal recognition helps safeguard biodiversity, maintain soil health and carbon storage, support sustainable livestock production and food security, and strengthen resilience to climate change. As countries work to meet their land degradation neutrality commitments under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, recognizing and protecting the rights of pastoralist communities should be viewed as a cornerstone of sustainable rangeland management and long-term environmental stewardship. Projects - Global Nature Watch Part of Forests - Land & Carbon Lab Part of Forests