In Africa, approximately 51 million square miles of land – 43% percent – of the continent is classified as rangeland. Mostly occupied by pastoralists, rangelands support meat supply within cities. Rangelands are also home to Africa’s big five games like the elephants, leopards, lions, buffalos, rhinoceros hence contributing highly to countries GDP through tourism.
Loupa Pius says unfortunately these are neglected ecosystems attracting less attention compared to other ecosystems like the rainforests. Pius says unfortunately pastoralists governance systems are not strengthened to support natural resource management. Mainly because many African governments lack policies recognising the extensive livestock production and mobility as important in restoration, recovery and supporting food systems.
At the same time, pastoralists use natural indicators such as migratory birds and certain plant species to migrates. But due to change in rainfall, landscapes and vegetation change over time and conflict related to land use these natural indicators have changed altering grazing and migration patterns.
This episode is part of the Restoration of the African Dryland series is a six-part series on the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) Africa Digital Conference led by the Center for the International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), in collaboration with its co-founders UNEP, the World Bank, and its Charter Members.