A case of benign neglect

and livestock insurance, among others, that would be needed to inform decision-making.

• In general, there are more information gaps in socioeconomic issues related to pastoralism than in biophysical issues related to rangelands. Very little reliable information exists on the number of pastoralists. Information on rangeland area is mostly collected through satellite or remote sensing methods. • There are large information gaps in thematic topics that are considered specifically challenging for remote and mobile populations, such as the provision of education and health services, participation in local representation and national politics, alternative livelihoods, access to development, the provision of facilities and infrastructure, and livestock mobility within a country or across borders, among others. • Recent topics important to pastoralism and rangelands are covered less than ‘conventional’ topics. For example, as the Scopus search shows, the undergrazing (thought to be one cause of rangeland degradation) is covered much less than overgrazing. Although much attention is being paid to land-use change (especially conversion of rangelands to crop farming or protected areas), less attention is focused on land grabbing or large- scale land acquisitions that dispossess pastoralists. There is relatively little coverage of non- equilibrium solutions for grazing management, though this appears to be increasing. • Two recent topics – namely conflict and adaptation to climate change – are covered relatively more than other topics as they are issues of global interest. These could therefore serve as a vehicle to better mainstream information and data on pastoralists and rangelands into government data and decision-making.

Ranchers herd cattle on healthy rangeland next to overgrazed land, Colorado, USA. Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), United States Department of Agriculture

procedures in place for verifying information. In most cases, however, information on pastoralism and rangelands may be grossly inaccurate, which could lead to poor decisions or panic about the severity of a crisis. For example, inaccurate data on rangeland degradation could cause governments to blame and dismantle traditionally sustainable pastoral systems, or in other words, ‘fix’ something that is not broken. This low level of confidence is due to a lack of verification and disaggregation of data. In contrast, survey respondents had more confidence in information provided by pastoralists and their organizations than most other data sources, though this information is not readily accessible.

While the methodology adopted for this study allowed for an understanding of the extent to which pastoralism and rangelands are covered in assessments, databases and academic publications, it was only about to provide some indications as to what the thematic gaps might be for these topics. These can be summarized as follows: • There is far less information on pastoralists and rangelands than crop farmers or woodlands. Of the information that is available, most is descriptive (such as number of livestock and area under permanent pasture). There are even larger gaps on deeper issues, such as access to education, participation, livestock mobility, rangeland health

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