Rangelands, Drylands & Pastoralism

Land is defined as a system engaged in generating biological productivity. It is the earth’s infrastructure for life. The rate and quality of production generated from the land depends on its major components, soil and its fertility. Soil organic matter, derived from the vegetation supported by a particular soil, is the major component that controls soil fertility.

Les terres3 peutvent se définir comme un système destiné à générer de la productivité biologique. C’est l’infrastructure naturelle qui supporte la vie sur la planète. La quantité et la qualité de cette production dépendent du principal composant de la terre : le sol et sa fertilité.

La tierra se define como un sistema bioproductivo. Es la infraestructura terrestre para la vida. La tasa y la calidad de la producción generada por la tierra dependen de sus principales componentes, de los suelos y de su fertilidad. La materia orgánica del suelo, derivada de la vegetación que crece en un suelo determinado, es el principal componente que controla la fertilidad de éste.

Land is defined as a system engaged in generating biological productivity. It is the earth’s infrastructure for life. The rate and quality of production generated from the land depends on its major components, soil and its fertility. Soil organic matter, derived from the vegetation supported by a particular soil, is the major component that controls soil fertility.

Despite challenges in many river

basins, overall the planet has

enough water to meet the full range

of peoples’ and ecosystems’ needs

for the foreseeable future, but

equity will only be achieved through

judicious and creative management.

There is consensus that pastoral mobility is beneficial for both pastoralists and the environment. However, rapid change arising from multiple factors, including landscape fragmentation, sedentarization, and demographic drivers might affect the effectiveness of this pastoral coping strategy in times of drought.

TNRF, UCRT and Maliasili Initiatives have published, From Promise to Performance?: Wildlife Mangement Areas in Northern Tanzania.  The summary provides an overview of findings of two studies recently carried out by TNRF on the current status and performance of three WMAs in northern Tanzania, in Arusha and Manyara regions 

Asia and the Pacific, for the purposes of this book, encompasses a vast territory extending from Mongolia in the north to New Zealand in the south; from the Cook Islands in the east to Kuwait in the west (Map 1).

More than two billion people depend on the world’s arid and semi-arid lands. Preventing land degradation and supporting sustainable development in drylands has major implications for food security, climate change and human settlement.