Current Context : Global Land Outlook Thematic Report on Rangelands and Pastoralists was released by UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) on 21 May.

Objective : to focus on relationship between rangelands and their human communities, especially pastoralists and to identify approaches for rangeland protection.

ABOUT RANGELANDS

• They are natural or semi-natural ecosystems grazed by livestock and wild animals.
• It comprise a mosaic of ecosystems such as grasslands, savannahs, shrublands, drylands, deserts, steppes, mountains, open forests, and agroforestry systems.

RELEVANT FACTS ABOUT REPORT :

• Rangelands cover 80 million square kilometers or over 54 percent of the terrestrial surface,
• The livestock production systems in rangelands cover 45 percent of the global land surface, almost half of which is situated in drylands.
• In India, rangelands occupy about 121 million hectares and the area used for grazing is estimated at around 40 percent of the total land surface of India, including grasslands (17 per cent), and forests (23 per cent).