Land degradation neutrality: participatory range assessment

In rangelands, land degradation has an immediate and local impact by disrupting ecosystems from functioning, threatening livelihoods, negatively affecting social cohesion and threatening productivity. Land degradation in rangelands is poorly understood because of a lack of robust data and misconceptions of management objectives. Day-to-day land management by pastoralist communities is intricately linked to local knowledge that needs to be considered when monitoring the health of ecosystems and designing management interventions. Sustainable Development Goal 15 “Life on land” includes Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) as a target, which requires that the process of degradation is halted and reversed.

The FAO and IUCN publication “Land degradation neutrality: A rationale for using participatory approaches to monitor and assess rangeland health” (2021, 75pp) by Vivian Onyango et al presents a rationale for participatory approaches to achieve LDN in pastoral areas. It shows how this can be achieved using the Participatory Rangelands and Grasslands Assessment (PRAGA), which was piloted in Kenya, Niger, Burkina Faso, Uruguay and Kyrgyzstan.

Posted on 21 September 2021 in Pastoralism & Climate Change, Pastoralism & Natural Resources, Pastoralist Livelihoods & Nutrition