As the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists builds toward the UNCCD COP17, this session takes stock of what has been achieved, what remains unfinished, and what the pastoral movement must bring to the global table. Panelists examine how to shift investment in rangelands from top-down and extractive to ethical, community-led, and sustainable models, while confronting hard questions about carbon credits, private sector incentives, and the commodification of pastoral landscapes. The session makes the case that lasting change requires legislative foundations, pastoralist presence in decision-making, and a coordinated push for recognition that extends well beyond 2026.
Key messages
- Africa’s rangelands are not wastelands: They are productive ecosystems sustained through sophisticated pastoral governance, mobility systems, and Indigenous stewardship practices.
- Sustainable rangeland governance requires securing communal land rights, protecting mobility systems, recognizing Indigenous governance institutions and moving away from exclusionary conservation and short-term interventions toward long-term stewardship approaches.
- The International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists should deliver lasting institutional change. There’s a need for a decade of rangelands and pastoralism, a dedicated global institution, and national legislation that protects rangelands and pastoralist rights beyond 2026.
- Investment in rangelands is necessary and inevitable, but the terms must be set with pastoralists at the center of decision-making, and the need to define what ethical investment must look like.
