This study focuses on pastoralism’s current and future potential for securing sustainable management and green economy outcomes from the world’s rangelands. It synthesises existing evidence and uses practical examples from mobile pastoralism in Europe, Latin America, North America, Central, Western and Southern Asia, Australia and throughout Africa to both demonstrate the system’s inherent characteristics for adaptive sustainability and some of the key opportunities and challenges for promoting development in rangelands. Finally, the study identifies the key enabling conditions required for pastoralism to deliver on its potential role in a Green Economy.
This report is financed by UNEP and is part of the efforts of UNEP, IUCN and the World Initiative for Sustainable Pastoralism (WISP), to provide the social, economic and environmental arguments for increased recognition of sustainable pastoralism as a viable land management option for the world’s rangelands.