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IGC and IRC in Kenya goes all virtual 25-29 October 2021

International Grassland and Rangeland Congress in Kenya goes all virtual 25-29 October 2021 – Register Today


The Joint International Grasslands and Rangelands Congress planned for Nairobi, Kenya will now be an all virtual meeting from 25-29 October 2021. Covid restrictions have changed original plans but a virtual meeting will be more convenient for rangeland and grassland professionals from around the world. The virtual format will also allow many ranchers and pastoralists to attend.

The virtual congress will include video tours highlighting research in Kenya and Kenya’s famous Nature Conservancies which show how wildlife management can be integrated with livestock husbandry. There will be a Exhibition Hall with local and international companies and organisations. The scientific program is outstanding covering the gamut of grassland/rangeland topics including: grassland and rangeland ecology; forage production and utilization; livestock production systems; wildlife, tourism and multi-facets of grassland and rangeland; drought management and climate change in rangelands; pastoralism, social, gender and policy issues and capacity building, extension and governance.

A quick overview of the Congress and a direct link to the Registration page is available here: https://igc-irc-2021.jdlp.com.au/


Virtual Congress Registration fees

In view to the change to hold full virtual Congress, the delegate registration fees have been reduced:

 Delegates Presenting Papers 230 USD
 Students Presenting Papers 155 USD
 All other delegates not making any presentations 100 USD

The registration deadline is 18th October 2021.

If you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch with the Congress Secretariat office at kenya2021-igc-irc@kalro.org and kenya2020igcirc@gmail.com.

Thank you for your interest in the Joint International Grassland and International Rangeland Congress Kenya 2021 and for your support during these extraordinary times.

Deadline for the submission of papers and posters extended until 23 December

The International Grasslands and Rangelands Congress has an extended deadline for the submission of papers and posters until 23 December. If you or anyone in your networks would like to submit a paper and come to African in 2020, please consider doing so now!

Jim O’Rourke (IRC Secretariat) and Dana Kelly (IRC President) have just completed a reconnaissance for the pre-congress tours. If you want an experience of a lifetime, come and meet some amazing people who can explain what local communities and scientists are doing in the conservancies and national parks along the way. The congress also has some exciting sessions which are uniquely African.

Detailed brochures about the papers/poster submission and the Congress:
IGC-IRC_2020_FinalCall_EXTENDED DEADLINE
IGC-IRC_Congress_Flyer_Nov2019

If finances are tight for you or your colleagues, please apply for delegate support; the link the form to fill out is:
https://igandircongress2020.dryfta.com/sponsorship/delegate-support-application-form

We look forward to seeing you all in Kenya!

Third Announcement – Joint XXIV IGC and XI IRC Congress

The International Grasslands and Rangelands Congress for Kenya is drawing closer. Please consider submitting a paper or getting your organisation to hold a workshop at the congress. The call for papers closes in November 2019.

Deadline for submission of proposal for panel: 1 October 2019
Deadline for submission of abstract for oral presentations or posters: 15 November 2019
Deadline for submission of full paper if abstract accepted: 30 April 2020

The associated tours sound exciting with a mix of tourism, iconic wildlife and of course lots of talks and discussions with grassland and rangeland professionals across Tanzania and Kenya. Bookings are starting to flow in, so please think about if you would like to go on a congress organised tour, as numbers are limited.

We ask for your help in advertising this congress around your networks. We need delegates to register and papers to be submitted this year.

PDF Brochures:
IGC-IRC Third Announcement
IGC-IRC Flyer
IGC-IRC Sponsorship Prospectus

Third Call for Papers, Posters, and Concurrent Panel Sessions

Joint XXIV International Grassland Congress XI International Rangeland Congress
25-30 October 2020, Nairobi, Kenya

The National Organizing Committee of the Joint International Grassland & Rangeland Congress invite abstracts for concurrent panel sessions, oral paper presentations, and posters to be presented at this global conference, to be held in Nairobi, Kenya from 25 to 30 October 2020.

The conference shall present a platform to share cutting edge science and practices in management of the planets’ grasslands and rangelands and offer the participants the opportunity to experience the best from the Eastern African savannas.

Congress Themes

The theme of the conference is Sustainable Use of Grassland/Rangeland Resources for Improved Livelihoods. Keynote addresses, oral papers and posters presented at the conference will be organized around seven sub-themes.

Sub-Theme 1: Rangeland/Grassland Ecology

• Ecological site description and ecosystem classification
• Soil and watershed management, water supply, quality and riparian health
• Shrub encroachment, fire ecology, invasive species and pest management
• Monitoring of rangeland and grassland resources
• Sustainable rangeland/grassland management and improvement

Sub-Theme 2: Forage Production and Utilization

• Genetic resources, forage development and management
• Grazing management practices and animal nutrition
• Challenges for sustainability of intensive high rainfall grasslands, sown pastures and turf
• Seed science and production systems

Sub-Theme 3: Livestock Production Systems

• Intensive production systems (including small-holder dairy systems in tropics and subtropics)
• Extensive production systems (including ranching, nomadism, and dairying)
• Integrated systems (agro/silvopastoral systems and crop-livestock interactions)

Sub-Theme 4: Wildlife, Tourism and Multi-Facets of Rangeland/Grassland

• Wildlife management, conservation and tourism
• Privately owned or leased rangeland systems
• Biodiversity and ecosystem services of rangelands/grasslands
• Status, and trends in rangelands/grasslands and options in the future
• Competing Interests in rangelands: mining, fracking, ground water exploitation

Sub-Theme 5: Drought Management and Climate Change in Rangelands/Grasslands

• Drought management for sustainable productivity
• Carbon sequestration
• GHG emissions from rangeland/grassland livestock systems
• Impacts on biodiversity, livestock and grazing systems
• Early warning systems and modelling future climate change in arid and semi-arid lands

Sub-Theme 6: Pastoralism, Social, Gender and Policy Issues

• Cultural heritage and indigenous people’s use of rangelands/grasslands (indigenous technical knowledge)
• Governance, land rights and changes to pastoral systems
• Social justice, gender and equity issues in rangelands/grasslands.
• Livelihood diversification opportunities for pastoralists (crops, hand crafts, fishing, beekeeping, biofuels, silk, herbs, spices, wild fruit etc.).
• Marketing infrastructure and systems in rangelands/grasslands
• Policy issues for rangelands/grasslands development
• Political instability and extremism: its impact on rangelands/grasslands management

Sub-Theme 7: Capacity, Institutions and Innovations for Sustainable Development in Rangelands/Grasslands

• Emerging/trending issues in range/grassland science and education
• Extension and technology-transfer
• Green energy and Information Communication Technologies applications
• Rangelands/grasslands and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
• Participatory approaches and innovations in the management of rangelands/grasslands

Submission Guidelines: General

Abstracts will be peer-reviewed and the selection criteria will include:

(i) Relevance to the congress theme and sessions;
(ii) Significance of information and enriching current state of knowledge;
(iii) Originality and novelty;
(iv) Structure and clarity;
(v) Scientific validity.

Submission of Abstracts Through the Congress Web Site

Submissions of abstracts for posters and oral presentations and proposals for concurrent panel
sessions is to be done through the congress web site (https://igandircongress2020.dryfta.com).

1. Navigate to the site.
2. If you have already created an account on this site login, then jump to Step 5. Otherwise, click “Abstract Submissions”.
3. This will take you to the login page. If you have not yet created an account, click “create one now”. Enter your personal information, including email address and your chosen password, then click “Create Account”.
4. This will log you in to the congress site and take you to your dashboard. Click “My Abstracts”.
5. Click the green “Submit Abstract” button. This will open a page where you will input all the information related to your abstract.
6. After you have entered all the required information, click “Submit” at the bottom of the page. You will receive an automated email notification of the submission.

Submission Guidelines: Concurrent Panel Sessions

Most papers accepted for presentation at the congress will be organized into concurrent panel sessions by the conference organizers. However, proposals for thematic panel sessions made up of a collection of related oral papers are welcome. Only a limited number of such proposed panel sessions will be accepted.

Proposals for concurrent panel sessions should include an abstract of maximum of 500 words describing the overall focus of the panel session, and a list of titles and authors of oral papers to be included in the panel sessions. Concurrent panel sessions at the congress will be 90 minutes long. Proposed concurrent panel sessions should include at least five oral presentations.

You will be asked to identify under which conference sub-theme you feel the proposed concurrent session best fits, and to enter details of the individual oral presentations to be included in the session including title, presenting author, and presenting author’s email address.

Only one (1) proposed concurrent panel session will be accepted from any individual.

Submission

For general instructions, see “Submission of Abstracts Through the Congress Web Site”, above. When submitting the proposal for the panel in the congress site, click the appropriate “Submission Type”. This will cause the web page to reload. Input all the required information and upload your proposal as a Word (.doc or .docx) or .rtf file.

After entering all the required information, be sure to click “Submit” at the bottom of the page.

Submissions will close on 1 October 2019. Submissions will not be accepted after the closing date/time.

Review Process

Proposals for concurrent panel sessions will be peer-reviewed by experts, and only a limited number of such proposals will be accepted.

Acceptance of a panel does not guarantee that all the papers proposed as part of that session will be individually accepted. Abstracts for individual oral papers belonging to a proposed session will be reviewed independently (see below).

Submission Guidelines: Contributed Oral Papers and Posters

A maximum of two (2) papers/posters will be accepted from any one corresponding author. For both contributed oral papers and posters, authors should submit an abstract of maximum 300 words. When submitting abstracts, authors will be asked to identify whether they prefer to present an oral paper or a poster, and to identify under which conference sub-theme the author feels the paper or poster best fits.

Contributed oral papers will be presented in the concurrent sessions. Each presentation is expected to be no more than 10 minutes long plus two and half minutes of question and answer.

Posters will be presented in dedicated poster sessions at the congress. The posters should be approximately 90 cm x 120 cm (36″ x 48″). Cost of printing posters is to be borne by the authors; the congress organizing committee will not reimburse the cost printing posters.

Authors whose oral paper presentations or posters are accepted will receive detailed instruction about congress computing facilities, requirements and appropriate guidelines prior to the congress.

Submission

For general instructions, see “Submission of Abstracts Through the Congress Web Site”, above.

Enter all the required information in the online form, including selecting the appropriate Submission Type. Upload your abstract as a Word (.doc or .docx) or .rtf file. After entering all the required information, be sure to click “Submit” at the bottom of the page.

Submissions will close on 15 November 2019. Submissions will not be accepted after the closing
date/time.

Review Process

Abstracts will be peer-reviewed by experts. Papers describing programs and projects should focus on what was done and restrict background information such as the description of organization/ institution/country to a minimum.

As it is likely that the quantity of submissions will exceed the number of available slots, some submitted abstracts for oral presentations may be accepted for presentation as posters.

Acceptance of contributed oral presentations and posters will be ongoing and authors will be informed of the status of their submission typically within four months of submission and no later than 15 March 2020.

Authors of abstracts accepted for presentation as an oral paper or as a poster must register for the congress no later than 31 May 2020. Authors who have not registered by this date will have their paper/poster removed from the program.

Authors of abstracts accepted for presentation as an oral paper or as a poster will be invited to submit the full paper (minimum 3 pp., maximum 4 pp.) to be included in the congress proceedings. The deadline for submitting the full paper is 30 April 2020.

Guidelines for formatting papers will be made available on the conference web site. As mentioned above, costs of printing posters will be borne by the author(s); the congress organizing committee will not reimburse the cost of printing posters.

Second Call for Panels, Papers and Posters

Joint
XXIV International Grassland Congress
XI International Rangeland Congress
25-30 October 2020, Nairobi, Kenya

The National Organizing Committee of the Joint International Grassland & Rangeland Congress invite abstracts for panels, papers and posters to be presented at this global conference, to be held in Nairobi, Kenya from 25 to 30 October 2020.

The conference shall present a platform to share cutting edge science and practices in management of the planets’ grasslands and rangelands and offer the participants the opportunity to experience the best from the Eastern African savannas.

Congress Themes

The theme of the conference is Sustainable Use of Grassland/Rangeland Resources for Improved Livelihoods. Keynote addresses, oral papers and posters presented at the conference will be organized around seven sub-themes.

Sub-Theme 1: Rangeland/Grassland Ecology

  • Ecological site description and ecosystem classification
  • Soil and watershed management, water supply, quality and riparian health
  • Shrub encroachment, fire ecology, invasive species and pest management
  • Monitoring of rangeland and grassland resources
  • Sustainable rangeland/grassland management and improvement

Sub-Theme 2: Forage Production and Utilization

  • Genetic resources, forage development and management
  • Grazing management practices and animal nutrition
  • Challenges for sustainability of intensive high rainfall grasslands, sown pastures and turf
  • Seed science and production systems

Sub-Theme 3: Livestock Production Systems

  • Intensive production systems (including small-holder dairy systems in tropics and subtropics)
  • Extensive production systems (including ranching, nomadism, and dairying)
  • Integrated systems (agro/silvopastoral systems and crop-livestock interactions)

Sub-Theme 4: Wildlife, Tourism and Multi-Facets of Rangeland/Grassland

  • Wildlife management, conservation and tourism
  • Privately owned or leased rangeland systems
  • Biodiversity and ecosystem services of rangelands/grasslands
  • Status, and trends in rangelands/grasslands and options in the future
  • Competing Interests in rangelands: mining, fracking, ground water exploitation

Sub-Theme 5: Drought Management and Climate Change in Rangelands/Grasslands

  • Drought management for sustainable productivity
  • Carbon sequestration
  • GHG emissions from rangeland/grassland livestock systems
  • Impacts on biodiversity, livestock and grazing systems
  • Early warning systems and modelling future climate change in arid and semi-arid lands

Sub-Theme 6: Pastoralism, Social, Gender and Policy Issues

  • Cultural heritage and indigenous people’s use of rangelands/grasslands (indigenous technical knowledge)
  • Governance, land rights and changes to pastoral systems
  • Social justice, gender and equity issues in rangelands/grasslands.
  • Livelihood diversification opportunities for pastoralists (crops, hand crafts, fishing, beekeeping, biofuels, silk, herbs, spices, wild fruit etc.).
  • Marketing infrastructure and systems in rangelands/grasslands
  • Policy issues for rangelands/grasslands development
  • Political instability and extremism: its impact on rangelands/grasslands management

Sub-Theme 7: Capacity, Institutions and Innovations for Sustainable Development in Rangelands/Grasslands

  • Emerging/trending issues in range/grassland science and education
  • Extension and technology-transfer
  • Green energy and Information Communication Technologies applications
  • Rangelands/grasslands and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
  • Participatory approaches and innovations in the management of rangelands/grasslands

Submission Guidelines: General

Abstracts will be peer-reviewed and the selection criteria will include:

  1. Relevance to the congress theme and sessions;
  2. Significance of information and enriching current state of knowledge;
  3. Originality and novelty;
  4. Structure and clarity;
  5. Scientific validity.

Submission of Abstracts Through the Congress Web Site

Submissions of abstracts for posters and oral presentations and proposals for concurrent panel
sessions is to be done through the congress web site (https://igandircongress2020.dryfta.com).

  1. Navigate to the site.
  2. If you have already created an account on this site login, then jump to Step 5. Otherwise, click “Abstract Submissions”.
  3. This will take you to the login page. If you have not yet created an account, click “create one now”. Enter your personal information, including email address and your chosen password, then click “Create Account”.
  4. This will log you in to the congress site and take you to your dashboard. Click “My Abstracts”.
  5. Click the green “Submit Abstract” button. This will open a page where you will input all the information related to your abstract.
  6. After you have entered all the required information, click “Submit” at the bottom of the page. You will receive an automated email notification of the submission.

Submission Guidelines: Panel Sessions

Most papers accepted for presentation at the congress will be organized into concurrent panel sessions by the conference organizers. However, proposals for thematic panel sessions made up of a collection of related oral papers are welcome. Only a limited number of such proposed panels will be accepted.

Proposals for panel sessions should include an abstract of maximum of 500 words describing the overall focus of the panel session, and a list of titles and authors of oral papers to be included in the panel. Concurrent panel sessions at the congress will be 90 minutes long. Proposed panels should include at least five oral presentations.

You will be asked to identify under which conference sub-theme they feel the panel best fits, and to enter details of the individual oral presentations to be included in the panel including title, presenting author, and presenting author’s email address.

Only one (1) proposed panel will be accepted from any individual.

Submission

The submission process for panel sessions opens on 6 November 2018.

For general instructions, see “Submission of Abstracts Through the Congress Web Site”, above. When submitting the proposal for the panel in the congress site, click the appropriate “Submission Type”. This will cause the web page to reload. Input all the required information and upload your proposal as a Word (.doc or .docx) or .rtf file.

After entering all the required information, be sure to click “Submit” at the bottom of the page.

Submissions will close on 1 October 2019. Submissions will not be accepted after the closing date/time.

Review Process

Proposals for concurrent panel sessions will be peer-reviewed by experts, and only a limited number of such proposals will be accepted.

Acceptance of a panel does not guarantee that all the papers proposed as part of that panel will be individually accepted. Abstracts for individual oral papers belonging to a proposed panel will be reviewed independently (see below).

Submission Guidelines: Contributed Oral Papers and Posters

A maximum of two (2) papers/posters will be accepted from any one corresponding author. For both contributed oral papers and posters, authors should submit an abstract of maximum 300 words. When submitting abstracts, authors will be asked to identify whether they prefer to present an oral paper or a poster, and to identify under which conference sub-theme the author
feels the paper or poster best fits.

Contributed oral papers will be presented in the panel sessions. Each presentation is expected to be no more than 10 minutes long plus two and half minutes of question and answer.

Posters will be presented in dedicated poster sessions at the congress. The posters should be approximately 90 cm x 120 cm (36″ x 48″). Cost of printing posters is to be borne by the authors; the congress organizing committee will not reimburse the cost printing posters.

Authors whose papers or posters are accepted will receive detailed instruction about congress computing facilities, requirements and appropriate guidelines prior to the congress.

Submission

The submission process for abstracts for oral papers and posters opens on 6 November 2018.

For general instructions, see “Submission of Abstracts Through the Congress Web Site”, above.

Enter all the required information in the online form, including selecting the appropriate Submission Type. Upload your abstract as a Word (.doc or .docx) or .rtf file. After entering all the required information, be sure to click “Submit” at the bottom of the page.

Submissions will close on 15 November 2019. Submissions will not be accepted after the closing date/time.

Review Process

Abstracts will be peer-reviewed by experts. Papers describing programs and projects should focus on what was done and restrict background information such as the description of organization/institution/country to a minimum.

As it is likely that the quantity of submissions will exceed the number of available slots, some submitted abstracts for oral presentations may be accepted for presentation as posters.

Acceptance of papers and posters will be ongoing and authors will be informed of the status of their submission typically within four months of submission and no later than 15 March 2020.

Authors of abstracts accepted for presentation as an oral paper or as a poster must register for the congress no later than 31 May 2020. Authors who have not registered by this date will have their paper/poster removed from the program.

Authors of abstracts accepted for presentation as an oral paper or as a poster will be invited to submit the full paper (minimum 3 pp., maximum 4 pp.) to be included in the congress proceedings. The deadline for submitting the full paper is 30 April 2020.

Guidelines for formatting papers will be made available on the conference web site. As mentioned above, costs of printing posters will be borne by the author(s); the congress organizing committee will not reimburse the cost of printing posters.

Second Announcement – Joint XXIV IGC and XI IRC Congress

The Organizing Committee of XXIV International Grassland and XI Rangeland Congress, on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture , Livestock, Fisheries and Irrigation, the Animal Production Society of Kenya and Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, cordially invites you to participate in the XXIV-IGC and XI-IRC joint Congress from October 24 to 30, 2020 at KICC, Nairobi Kenya.

The hosting of the first-ever joint congress in Africa is significant, as this region offers diverse and unique tropical savannah ecosystems, which are home to some of the most economically important grasses in the world and mesmerizing wildlife. This momentous event will highlight high tech (including ICT) technologies and enable the scientific community to deliberate on various advances made in the field of grassland and rangeland science and management.

Kenya has many exciting grassland and rangeland features,a competitive business environment, vibrant International Scientific Community and offers world class tourist destinations.

The Organizing Committee has spared no effort to ensure that the joint IGC-IRC congress will be an occasion for the delegates to create sustainable interactive scientific linkages and enjoy the cultural diversity and lasting warm hospitality of the Kenyan people.

We look forward to welcoming you to the Kenya 2020 joint Congress in Nairobi.

Congress brochure

Joint XXIV International Grassland Congress (IGC) and International Rangeland Congress (IRC) 2020 — First Announcement

The Joint XXIV IGC — XI IRC congresses will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, October 25 – 30, 2020. The theme of the Congress is “Sustainable Use of Grassland/Rangeland Resources for Improved Livelihoods”. The aim of the congress will be to promote the interchange of scientific and technical information on all aspects of grasslands and rangelands: including grassland/rangeland ecology; forage production and utilization; livestock production systems; wildlife, tourism and multi-facets of grassland/rangeland; drought management and climate change in rangelands; pastoralism, social, gender and policy issues and capacity building, extension and governance. We look forward to seeing you in Nairobi in 2020. For more information, see this flyer.

Job Advertisement: PDF – Rangeland Landscape Ecologist

PDF – Rangeland Landscape Ecologist
Internationally Recruited Staff
Reports to: Range Ecology and Management Research Scientist
Location: Amman, Jordan
Closing date: 31 December, 2016

Main purpose of the position:

The PDF – Rangeland Landscape Ecologist will work within the multidisciplinary SIRPSP team and contribute to the development and implementation of integrated rangeland-livestock projects in the mandated dry areas of ICARDA. The position is key for implementing the Center’s research on rangeland ecology and management to support poor and vulnerable smallholder farmers and agro-pastoralists.

Main responsibilities

  • Design and conduct research, data collection, analysis and reporting activities to support the development of sustainable rangeland management practices, innovative approaches, new tools and technologies;
  • Conduct baseline studies to document the pastoral and agro-pastorals’ indigenous knowledge on sustainable integrated natural resources management;
  • Carry out and supervise community-based rangeland rehabilitation and management activities;
  • Contribute to the assessments of ecological impacts such as impact of climate change on rangelands;
  • Contribute to institutional capacity development of national partners through training, supervision and technical backstopping;
  • Publish in ISI refereed journals with a focus on rangeland ecology and management;
  • Contribute to resource mobilization activities;
  • Represent ICARDA in regional and international for a;
  • Perform other duties assigned by the senior rangeland scientist.

Education, qualifications and experience

  • Earned PhD degree in rangeland ecology and management (preferably landscape ecology) or related field;
  • Proven experience in field-based research, rangeland monitoring and assessment;
  • Knowledge of rangeland plant taxonomy especially in the main ICARDA geographic regions the Centre operates;
  • Knowledge of, and experience in, participatory and community-based approaches to research-for-development;
  • Proficiency in using modern technologies such as GIS/remote sensing, cloud based mobile data collection platform and ecological modelling;
  • Capacity to plan, design and implement research and demonstration programs;
  • Fluency in spoken and written English
  • Additional languages that would be an advantage are French and/or Arabic;
  • Work experience in developing countries is desirable;
  • Ability to work in a team and supervise technical staff.

Terms of appointment, salary and benefits

This is an international recruited position. ICARDA offers an attractive remuneration package, including a competitive salary, housing allowance, contribution towards relocation costs, home leave provisions, medical and life insurance. The successful candidate will be appointed for a maximum three-year contract, confirmation of which will be subject to a probationary period of 12 months.

How to apply

Please apply online at www.icarda.org/iea/ by 31 December 2016
We are an equal opportunity employer and encourage applications from women.
Applications will be acknowledged, but only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
IEA#516
UBW#100099
Human Resources Office
Dalia Bldg. 2nd Floor,
Bashir El Kassar Street,
Verdun Area, next to Arab Bank
P.O. Box 114/5055
Postal Code 1108-2010
Beirut, Lebanon
Tel: +961-1-813308/9
www.icarda.org

International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists – Support for United Nations Resolution

multiple group banner

Press Release

September 23, 2016 – The Society for Range Management (SRM), The Rangelands Partnership (a collaboration of 19 Land-Grant Universities in the U.S.), the International Rangelands Congress (IRC), and the International Grasslands Congress (IGC) have pledged to work together with organizations around the world to gain support for naming and implementing an International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP).
Rangelands are landscapes dominated by grasses and other low growing vegetation and include grasslands, savannas, shrublands, deserts, tundra and alpine communities, marshes, and meadows often tended to by pastoralists and ranchers. Pastoralism is the branch of agriculture concerned with animal husbandry, which traditionally occurs on rangelands. Pastoralists and rangelands are intimately tied.
Pastoralism represents a lifestyle that oversees and nurtures the open spaces of our world. These lands are important for livestock production, habitat for wildlife, soil and water conservation, recreation, and conservation of biological diversity. In the face of variable climatic conditions and an increased focus on food security issues, it is essential that the value and vulnerability of pastoralism and the rangelands they sustain is recognized. A United Nations designation for an International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralism will greatly increase visibility and awareness world-wide.
Beginning in 2015, the partnering organizations began efforts to build consensus for achieving an IYRP designation. This led to the presentation and, ultimately, the approval of a resolution at the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-2) meeting held in Nairobi, Kenya on May 26, 2016. Titled Combating desertification, land degradation and drought and promoting pastoralism and rangelands, the resolution required high level support from more than 100 countries and calls for:

  • raising global awareness of sustainable pastoralism and rangelands
  • strengthening the science-policy interface on sustainable pastoralism and rangelands
  • conducting a worldwide gap analysis to better understand the implications for sustainable livelihoods

To begin implementing the UNEA-2 resolution, a meeting was later held in at the International Rangelands Congress on July 19, 2016, in Saskatoon, Canada. More than 50 representatives from around the world discussed and committed to an action plan of next steps in the IYRP process, including:

  • raising awareness at grassroots levels in both developed and developing countries
  • promoting an IYRP at the Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of the Parties, to be held in Cancun, Mexico in December 2016
  • continuing to work closely with countries willing to take forward a formal request to the United Nations General Assembly for an IYRP
  • Promoting an IYRP at future UN-related events as well as at other related conferences and meetings throughout the world.

These efforts are fully underway with multi-organizational task forces organizing numerous activities to alert key stakeholders to this important opportunity. For additional information or to learn how you can help with this effort, contact Barbara Hutchinson, The Rangelands Partnership/SRM (barbarah@cals.arizona.edu) or Jim O’Rourke, IRC/SRM (jorourke@csc.edu ). Also, please visit: IYRP Resources webpage (The Rangelands Partnership): http://globalrangelands.org/international-year-rangelands-and-pastoralists-initiative