“EFFECTIVE CONSERVATION REQUIRES THINKING BEYOND FORESTS”
by Karina Berg, Global Grasslands and Savannahs Initiative Lead, WWF
“Grasslands and Savannahs, also referred to as prairies, shrubland, llanos, rangeland, steppe, veld, meadows, campos and plains are equally important as providers of wildlife habitat, carbon sequestration, water storage, and air filtration. A new atlas which WWF has co-authored puts their importance in context — more than half of all our planet’s land is grass-dominated ecosystems. Yet less than 10 percent of them are protected.”
Read more:
https://wwf.medium.com/effective-conservation-requires-thinking-beyond-forests
We would like to invite you to the
UN FSS Affiliated Session on Mobile Pastoralism Valuing Rangeland Variability on 26. July, 13:30 – 14:20 CET
Link to register: https://ilri-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwtde-gqDotH9cK5SrwI0_Xjr8QQn0U1pBL
WOCATs publication ‘Sustainable rangeland management in Sub-Saharan Africa – Guidelines to good practice’:
https://www.wocat.net/library/media/174/
Global Rangeland Initiative – awareness for engagement
List of grassland references
by Jürgen Hoth, Biol., M.Sc.
Sustainability Advisor
The publications result from his grasslands conservation work throughout North America (Canada-Mexico-USA), ecoregional (Mex-US Chihuahuan desert) and alpine grasslands (Central Mexico) related to cooperation frameworks for grasslands conservation.
- Conservation strategies and action plans from state to continental scales
- Identification of Grassland Priority Conservation Areas throughout North America
- Grassland species of common conservation concern
- Market studies that we did on grassland grass-fed beef
- Sound land management and livestock raising
- Alpine grasslands restoration
Latest IPCC report shows the relationship between land and climate change, important regions like the Cerrado are under threat:
Half of the Cerrado has already been cleared for agriculture expansion and the rest is under immediate threat.
© WWF / Jean-Francois Timmers
“Restaura Cerrado: Saving Brazil’s savanna by reseeding and restoring it”
BY SARAH SAX ON 14 DECEMBER 2020 – Mongabay Series: Cerrado
Hand-spreading native Cerrado seeds
© Fernando Tatagiba / ICMBio.
“Beef Case Study in the flooded Savannas of Colombia”
(Available in English and Spanish)
Cattle ranching in the flooded savannas can produce agricultural output while at the same time managing natural resources in a sustainable way. These systems are under threat from the expansion of crop production systems like palm oil and rice, which are usually more profitable on a per ha basis. Improving the profitability of cattle ranching by implementing Best Management Practices (BMPs) could reduce the risk of land use change and its negative impacts on biodiversity and the environment.
The case study carried out in the Yopal region of Colombia, in close cooperation with producers and regional experts (focus groups), demonstrates the potential of such BMPs.
Strategic Issues Article “Grasslands and Savannahs in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration”
published in “Restoration Ecology” – The journal of the Society of Ecological Restoration
Download of the full paper here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/rec.13272
GLF pitch talk from Alissa Wachter given at the Global Landscapes Forum on Thursday, October 30th, 2020:
“Great grasslands: Why sustainable beef is more important to clean water and stable climate than most think”
https://planetbaseddiets.panda.org/insights/grasslands-sustainable-beef/
“Grasslands and savannah ecosystems-
an urgent need for conservation and sustainable management”
The report draws together information from around the world on the current status of some key grasslands and savannahs, describes how WWF is working to conserve these regions and introduces a new strategy to halt and reverse the losses summarised above.
Further recommendations for scientific articles about grasslands & savannahs:
