Pastoralists, a collective of several hundred million globally, are vital to the economies of the world’s drylands, mountains, and cold regions, sustaining culturally unique communities and supporting numerous dependent activities. However, the lack of reliable and sufficient data often leads to poorly informed policies, which, coupled with limited access to resources and unfavourable policies, significantly challenges their livelihoods. These issues are often compounded by neglect in investing in and securing tenure for rangelands. Through projects and partnerships, the Hub seeks to bridge these gaps and address these challenges to improve understanding of pastoralist livelihoods and their global economic and environmental contributions and secure access to resources. Some of the Hub’s priority areas of work include:
- Strengthening the capacity of pastoralist organizations in data collection, management, and analysis to provide reliable data and evidence of pastoralism’s contribution to national GDPs. This supports effective policymaking and advocacy efforts;
- Disseminating global instruments such as the VGGT tool and Technical Guide 6 for improved governance of pastoral lands through securing access to resources, advocating and legislating for livestock mobility, and promoting the establishment of multistakeholder platforms such as national, regional, and local transhumance committees;
- Promoting sustainable rangeland management through projects such as the Participatory Rangeland and Grassland Assessment Methodology and collaborations such as the Rangelands Atlas. These initiatives raise awareness of rangelands’ importance, highlight significant changes affecting them, and emphasize the need for their protection and restoration;
- Bridging data gaps in pastoralism and biodiversity using an adapted Tool for Agroecology Performance Evaluation (TAPE). This adaptation, incorporating robust biodiversity indicators, strengthens the evidence base on how pastoral practices contribute to biodiversity conservation and support sustainable agrifood systems.
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