Global Land Outlook Thematic Report on Rangelands and Pastoralists

General Studies Paper-2

Context: According to the report by the UN Convention on Combating Desertification (UNCCD), pastoralists in India, who rear livestock and depend on grasslands, need better recognition of their rights and access to markets.

Key Findings of report

• Almost half of the world’s rangelands are degraded due to climate change, population growth, land-use change and growing farmlands.
• Pastoralists are a marginalized community with little influence on policy decisions, resulting in uncertainty over access to common land and land rights.
• Grasslands have been virtually overlooked in environmental conservation and ecosystem restoration policies in favor of forestry-based interventions, which includes converting natural grasslands into plantation forests or other uses.
• Degradation: Less than 5 percent of India’s grasslands fall within protected areas, and the total grassland area declined from 18 to 12 million hectares between 2005 and 2015.

What are Rangelands?

• Rangelands are characterized by low vegetation and comprise grasslands, shrublands, wetlands, desert, semi-arid land, mountain pastures, plateaus and tundra.
• They cover 80 million sq km, which is 54 percent of the earth’s land surface.
• These rangelands are an important ecosystem to fight against climate change as they act as carbon sinks and prevent soil erosion, land degradation and desertification.

Rangelands in India

• Rangelands occupy about 121 million hectares in India and a large part (around 100 million hectares) of these is considered underutilized.
• The report highlighted that around 120 million hectares of land in India is degraded due to water erosion (82 million hectares), wind erosion (12 million hectares), chemical contamination (25 million hectares), and physical degradation (1 million hectares).
• Pastoralist communities in India
• Pastoralists contribute to the economy through livestock rearing and milk production.
• The population of pastoralist communities, comprising groups such as Maldharis, Van Gujjars and Rabaris, among others, is estimated to be 20 million or more.
• The livestock sector of the economy contributes 4 percent of national gross domestic product and 26 percent of agricultural gross domestic product.
• India accounts for 20 percent of the world’s livestock population.

Government measures

• Forest Rights Act 2006 has helped pastoralists obtain grazing rights across states in the country.
• Government through welfare schemes has provided assistance to pastoralists under the National Livestock Mission, Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund and the Rashtriya Gokul Mission on sustainable dairy production.
• India has launched several programmes to combat land degradation including the National Afforestation Programme, Green India Mission, and Watershed Development Component.
• Suggestion
• Integrated climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies with sustainable rangeland management plans are needed to increase carbon sequestration and storage while boosting the resilience of pastoralist and rangeland communities.
• Avoid rangeland conversion that diminish the diversity and multifunctionality of rangelands, especially on indigenous and communal lands.
• Adopt and support pastoralism-based strategies that help mitigate harms to rangeland health, such as climate change, overgrazing, soil erosion, invasive species, drought, and wildfires.