A case of benign neglect

Findings of the study (by source)

Global environmental assessment

Observations

A section on grazing and land degradation provides important conclusions on the effects of land-tenure security, climate change, poverty and conflict on pastoralism and rangelands, as well as other direct and indirect threats. However, the report also notes that due to a lack of information, it is not possible to ascertain whether the estimated 50 per cent loss of global livestock production from rangeland systems is because of a decline in fodder quality or loss of rangelands.

Much of the evidence is based on case studies and research reports, sometimes with differing conclusions. For example, chapter 6 states that overstocking and poor grazing has caused rangelands to deteriorate across the world, before concluding on the importance of introducing good grazing management through adjusting stocking rates and densities, while chapter 3 evidences that land-tenure security, enabled transhumance mobility and rangeland rotation and strong community

The majority of global environmental assessments reviewed were very accessible and in many cases provided access to raw or underlying data sets. Confidence in the data was generally high, though some global assessments were concerned about the data’s lack of adequate field verification (see Figure 7). None of the 13 global assessments reviewed had sufficient statistical information regarding pastoralism and rangelands to warrant the highest rating. Most mentioned pastoralism and rangelands only in passing or not at all. The most recent IPBES report Assessment of land degradation and restoration (2018) collected a large body of existing information and data and used a conceptual framework similar to the one used in this gap analysis. Findings and conclusions were also rated according to the level of confidence (defined as quality and quantity of evidence rather than degree of agreement). In general, the IPBES assessment presents comprehensive information on land degradation and restoration, but does not disaggregate this to a level where it can be used to inform decision makers about pastoralism and rangelands. Land degradation is defined in terms of loss of biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, as agreed at the third session of the IPBES Plenary. Although this definition covers many of the issues relevant to pastoralism and rangelands, it does not cover all issues. For example, rangelands may show high levels of biological diversity, but if their plant compositions were mostly unpalatable and invasive species, pastoralists would consider them degraded land.

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Accessibility

Availability

Con dence level

Figure 7: Global assessments rated by accessibility, availability and confidence level

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