Restoring rangelands can prevent the world from drying out

For many, the word ‘rangeland’ probably evokes images of a vast desolate landscape dotted by grass and shrubs, with an occasional tree and signs of wildlife. But, this is an oversimplification. Covering more than half of the world’s land area, rangelands can be found almost anywhere on Earth, from deserts to savannas, from Mediterranean forests to montane grasslands, and from the Arctic tundra to the shrublands and grasslands in tropical regions.

Rangelands, while often overlooked, represent an ecologically, economically, and culturally significant ecosystem that is vital for conserving biodiversity and supporting the livelihoods of close to half a billion pastoralists – communities whose economy and social structure are primarily based on raising and herding domesticated animals. Pastoralists and Indigenous communities depend on rangelands for livelihood and food security. Their cultural identity is anchored in this ecosystem, fostering a relationship of mutual coexistence. 

The benefits provided by rangelands extend far beyond rangeland communities. Livestock production is an essential link in the modern food supply chain and ensures global food security by providing a dependable source of protein and essential nutrients.

In addition, rangelands play a considerable role in climate regulation by capturing atmospheric carbon and storing it in biomass and soil organic matter, mitigating the effects of climate change. It is estimated that a third of the world’s terrestrial carbon stocks are retained in rangelands.

Rangelands in focus

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is highlighting this important ecosystem in its 2026 celebration of the UN Desertification and Drought Day, with the theme “Rangelands: Recognize. Respect. Restore.”  This is fitting as 2026 is also the International Year of Rangelands and Pastorialists, which calls for the increased recognition of rangelands and their pastoralist stewards in global climate and environmental policies.

The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) joins UNCCD and the global community in recognizing the central role of rangelands in building climate resilience, ensuring food and water security, conserving biodiversity, and preserving cultural heritage. 

ITTO also acknowledges the crucial role of local communities, particularly pastoralists and Indigenous peoples, in protecting and sustainably managing rangeland landscapes through their Indigenous knowledge and customary governance systems.

Linking deforestation and desertification

Forests, including temperate and tropical forests, can be contiguous with or encompass landscapes considered rangeland. In fact, mountain rangelands feature a specific type of pastoralism – vertical transhumant pastoralism – characterized by the seasonal movement of livestock between mountain pastures and the base settlement, often valley areas. Both ecosystems are influenced by a range of natural and anthropogenic factors that can adversely affect their condition.

Deforestation can hasten the process of land degradation and desertification. The loss of forest cover, for example, disrupts the water cycle and worsens soil erosion at the micro level, which can lead to land degradation and subsequently desertification within a specific area. At the macro level, deforestation drives climate change, with rising global temperatures, erratic rainfall patterns, and imbalance in water availability accelerating the transformation of fertile lands into drylands.

Rangelands currently face increasing pressures from various threats, including climate change, land use conversion, and unsustainable agricultural practices, such as overgrazing. Unabated, these could initiate and exacerbate desertification, a process that leads to the deterioration and reduction of productive land. Up to 50 percent of the world’s rangelands are degraded, according to the UNCCD’s 2024 Global Land Outlook Thematic Report on Rangelands and Pastoralists. 

Cognizant of these dynamics, ITTO published Guidelines for Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) in the Tropics (2020), which lays out six principles and thirty two guiding elements to assist policymakers, practitioners, community-based organizations and others to put FLR into practice. FLR is an inclusive whole of landscape approach that can help reverse land degradation, increase carbon storage, conserve biodiversity, and create sustainable livelihoods for local communities. These guidelines are an important tool in achieving the goals of the UN Decade for Afforestation and Reforestation in line with Sustainable Forest Management (2027–2036), 

Restoration efforts on the ground

ITTO, in partnership with the Association for Integrated Research and Development, is implementing a project on the northern coast of Peru’s dryland forests aimed at reducing deforestation and land degradation in line with FLR principles. By systematizing and disseminating knowledge on management and restoration technologies, and by harnessing local communities’ traditional knowledge for utilizing forest resources, the project advances sustainable forest management, conservation, and restoration to improve the integrity of forest landscape areas while facilitating local socioeconomic development.

An ITTO initiative titled “Rehabilitation and restoration of residual forests and arid savannah lands in the Akpé and Akama valleys” similarly leverages FLR principles to restore and sustainably manage residual forests and the conversion of arid savannah lands in the Akposso-Akébou landscape for timber production with the involvement of local communities in order to improve socio-economic conditions.

“We cannot look at forests in isolation from other ecosystems, thinking that what we do to our forests does not impact our rangelands. They are inextricably linked and face common threats. Thus, ensuring the health of our forests also allows us to make significant headway in restoring rangelands and can help prevent a drier future,” Ms Sheam Satkuru, ITTO Executive Director, said.