INTRODUCTION
Rangelands
occupy about 50% of the world’s land area. Rain forests and rangelands are the
last land resources of the world and they are in danger of degradation and
disappearance through unwise use, over-exploitation and destruction and they
are equally as deserving of the attention of politicians,
administrators, scientists as well as the general public. In fact, it can be
argued that rangelands are in even greater danger than rain forests, because
they occur in drier regions which are often very densely populated and
over-exploited by cropping and overgrazing, leading to degradation and
desertification. Therefore, there is a great need for the conservation of
rangelands, meaning their sustainable use for the benefit of mankind now and in
perpetuity.
DEFINITIONS AND
DISTRIBUTION OF RANGELAND
The
term rangeland covers a great variety of vegetation types, which already
follows from the often quoted varying estimates that it occupies from 30 to 50%
of the earth’s land surface, depending on the definition of what rangeland
constitutes.
According
to the concise Oxford dictionary range is a “stretch of grazing or hunting
ground”.
According
to the Society for Range Management (SRM), rangelands are a type of land on
which the natural vegetation is dominated by grasses, forbs and shrubs and the
land is managed as a natural ecosystem.
Rangelands
include grasslands, forestlands and wetlands. Included in this definition are
arid shrublands, savannas, woodlands, the arctic tundra, mountain meadows and
deserts. Rangeland can also encompass pastures of introduced grasses, such as
crested wheatgrass, that are managed as rangelands, as well as arid rangelands
that can yield anywhere from 200 to 1,500 pounds or more of dry matter per acre
per year.
Rangelands
are found on all continents and in all climates: in the tropics in Australia,
Africa, South America and Asia; in temperate regions in Australia, South and
North America, Europe and Eurasia. Also in arctic regions rangelands occur (tundra
and taiga). Rangelands are not only natural vegetation types, occurring in
climates that are too dry or too cold for dense tree growth. They also
originated as a result of grazing and burning of abandoned croplands and of
land after forest clearing in humid and sub-humid regions, in which case they
form a sub-climax vegetation, maintained by grazing, cutting or burning.
CHARACTERISTICS,
IMPORTANCE AND THREATS TO RANGELANDS
Rangelands
are the world’s largest land type. They consist of prairies, grasslands,
deserts, alpine, savanna, marshes and forests. The primary components of
rangelands are native grasses, shrubs and other native plants.
Rangelands
are typically characterized by low precipitation, shallow soils and slow
nutrient cycling. They are usually dominated by grasses, forbs and shrubs
efficient at water and nutrient utilization, so practices that are appropriate
to temperate pastures, such as fertilization and plowing, are often
inappropriate on rangelands.
Rangelands
are extremely productive and rich in biodiversity, providing:
•
A
source of high quality water, clean air and open spaces;
•
Essential
wildlife habitat and carbon sequestration;
•
An
environment for recreation such as hiking, camping, hunting and fishing;
•
Economic
means for agriculture, mining and local communities;
•
A
setting for social, cultural and aesthetic activities.
Regardless,
rangelands can be very productive, providing sustainable income for ranch
communities while protecting valuable natural resources through appropriate
grazing strategies.Rangelands are important for forage, wildlife habitat,
livestock production, water, recreation, open space and native plants.
Forces
that threaten rangeland integrity include unsustainable grazing practices,
damaging fire regimes, invasive plant species, global climate change, human
development, etc.
RANGELAND
MANAGEMENT
Rangeland
Management is - The use and stewardship of rangeland resources to meet goals
and desires of humans.
Rangeland
management is a unique discipline that blends science and management for the
purpose of sustaining this valuable land. The primary goal of rangeland
management is to protect and enhance a sustainable ecosystem that provides
forage for wildlife and livestock, clean water and recreation on public and
private land. In order to achieve these results, professionals may use a
variety of techniques such as controlled burning and grazing regimes. Balancing
soil productivity, plant physiology and climatic conditions are primary
functions in the planning, monitoring and assessment activities involved with
rangeland management.
In
addition to the maintenance of healthy ecosystems, rangeland professionals
assess and implement rehabilitation and land reclamation techniques following
drastic disturbances such as wildfires, droughts, floods and extractions of
minerals, oil and gas.
Tools for Rangeland
Management
Natural
forces and impacts:
·
Fire
·
Herbivory
·
Invasion
·
Human
Uses
·
Climate
Change
Tools
for stewardships:
·
Prescribed
fire
·
Managed
grazing by Livestock
·
Weed
management (invasion)
·
Management
of human uses
·
Restoration/Rehabilitation
These
factors change the plants and animals that inhabit rangeland sometimes in ways
that land managers and users find desirable and other times in ways that are
considered adverse.
Principles of
Range Management
There
are four basic principles of range management. They include:
1.
Distribute livestock over the range.
Livestock
are creatures of habitat and will not typically distribute themselves uniformly
over the range, even if topography is not an issue. Bull’s‐eye
grazing patterns are typical on most range areas, with water sources, flat
terrain and shaded areas receiving disproportional use. These are referred to
as primary range. Unless effort is taken to distribute use through water
development, strategic fencing, herding and the use of attractants, these areas
of primary range tend to be overgrazed and overused.
2.
Graze to the right use level.
In
the past, 50% of annual forage production was seen as the safe level of use.
Recent analysis has shown that this is a poor rule of thumb. On average, late‐seral
range should be used at no more than 40% of production, mid‐seral
at 30% and early‐seral at 17‐25%.
Some domestic forages can be used at a higher level because they are adapted to
grazing and usually have growing points that are low to the ground and not
easily removed by the grazing animal. We have also learned the importance of
leaving plant residue to protect the soil from erosion and the evaporative
effects of sun and wind. Plant residue is the first step to recovery on early‐seral
and damaged range.
In
addition to grazing at the right levels, it’s important to have high enough
livestock numbers to get even use of grass plants. Studies of rest‐rotation
grazing (RG) have shown that plant communities respond best with higher stock
densities (but lower overall stocking rates), because cattle will not graze as
selectively. This translates to more even access to soil moisture and nutrients
and an equal opportunity to grow roots, leaves and store food reserves for all
plants.
3.
Allow enough rest during the growing season.
Overgrazing
and overuse are not the same thing. Overuse happens when more of the annual
growth is removed than is recommended, for example if 40% use is considered
safe, and 60% is actually removed. Overgrazing happens when a plant (and a
range) is grazed so severely and so frequently that it does not have an
opportunity to recover. A plant might be overused, but if it has a long
recovery period during active growth, it’s not necessarily a harmful thing.
Specialized
grazing systems are typically designed to allow plants planned periods of time
where they are free from grazing.
4.
Graze at the right time (and for the right duration).
Graze
the range at a time when plants and soil won’t be harmed and there is enough
forage to sustain the grazing animal. There needs to be at least 15 cm of new
growth for cattle to graze efficiently. Also it’s best not to graze the same
fields at the same time each year. Spring turn‐out pastures
that are grazed and rested in alternate years will provide a more predictable
forage quantity and quality than those grazed early every year.
It’s
also important to control the length of time (number of days) cattle have
access to the pasture unit. During very rapid plant growth, it’s possible for
animals to regraze new leaf material within as few as 3 to 15 days. During
slower plant growth animals can be left longer on a pasture unit without the risk
of regrazing new growth provided the use level is not exceeded. This (along
with rest) is a key principle of time‐controlled
grazing (TC) and short‐duration (SD) grazing systems.
Specific
strategies for sustainable rangeland management
They
include:
i.
Prescribed
grazing on rangeland
ii.
Developing
a grazing management plan on rangeland
iii.
Participatory
rangeland management
v
Prescribed
grazing on rangeland
Prescribed
grazing can be thought of as a process of developing a grazing system that
seeks to integrate the economic and ecological realities that ranchers are
faced with on the Western range. The USDA defines prescribed grazing as “the
controlled harvest of vegetation with grazing or browsing animals, managed with
the intent to achieve a specified objective”.
Management
objectives addressed by prescribed grazing include:
·
Improve
or maintain the health and vigor of selected plants and maintain a stable and
desired plant community;
·
Provide
or maintain food, cover and shelter for animals of concern;
·
Improve
or maintain animal health and productivity;
·
Maintain
or improve water quality and quantity; and
·
Reduce
accelerated soil erosion and maintain or improve soil condition for susceptibility
of the resource.
A
very crucial aspect of a prescribed grazing regime is the development of a
workable and ecologically appropriate grazing management plan.
v
Developing a
grazing management plan on rangeland
Designing
an effective grazing plan isn’t as daunting as it seems. Mostly it is applying
observation to management, observing some more and then adjusting as needed.
There are five steps in developing a grazing plan. They are:
1)
Create
an inventory
2)
Define
goals
3)
Determine
grazing units
4)
Develop
a grazing schedule
5)
Develop
a monitoring and evaluation plan (Montana DNRC, 1999)
Ø
Create an
inventory
This
is for gathering baseline information to allow you to make appropriate
decisions about land and pasture use. Obtain soil maps from your Natural
Resources Conservation Service office and mark appropriate land forms, soil
types and fences and paddocks. Find out what plants are in each pasture and
evaluate the pastures based on a condition score. Utilize features such as key
species, percent canopy cover, amount of bare ground, presence of noxious
weeds, annual forage production in pounds per acre and amount of residue to
determine pasture condition and productivity.
Ø
Define goals
Make
a list of what you want to accomplish. This will be a list of your expectations
and will guide you in making plans and decisions. Do you want to improve the
economic value of the ranch? Maintain wildlife habitat? Improve water quality
and quantity? Reduce noxious weeds? Also consider available acreage and the
amount of time you have to put into this project.
Ø
Determine
grazing units
Divide
the pastures into units that you can rotate animals through. This will allow
you to rest pastures and allow for regrowth following grazing. It will also
allow you to rotate grazing on a seasonal basis. Determine how much forage is
available in each grazing unit and map it out. Note key species, percent cover,
water availability, facilities and other aspects important to you. Remember
that livestock should always be within a two-hour walk from water. This will
help you to determine grazing unit size for large parcels.
Ø
Develop a grazing
schedule
This
will be a graphic illustration of your plans for grazing each unit during the
grazing season. Develop the schedule based on your total animal units and
available animal unit months in each unit. If you have a 100-acre pasture with
two animal unit months per acre, you have 200 animal unit months of forage
available. At 50-percent allowable use, cut it in half to 100 animal unit
months. This means you have enough forage available to feed 100 animals for one
month. Or, said another way, 50 animal units for two months, 33 for three
months and so on.
Important
concepts here are duration of grazing and time for regrowth. Some range
ecologists and managers believe that grazing intensity is also important, and
it is. A plant needs to have green leaves left after grazing for photosynthesis
and subsequent regrowth. However, others feel that grazing severity isn’t as
important as regrowth time. Whichever you choose, it is important to remember
to allow plenty of time for adequate regrowth before the animal gets to bite a
plant a second time. Take a look at the native plants on an upland range site
if you have the opportunity. Some, like bluebunch wheatgrass and little
bluestem, are large-statured and can handle several bites from an animal in one
grazing event. Some, like Sandburg bluegrass, Idaho fescue and black grama, are
smaller and one bite is all it takes to reduce the plant to stubble.
Cattle
especially tend to graze severely, so don’t get too caught up in how much they
take off. Strive for 50-percent use and allow for regrowth. For some sites on
dry ranges, this will mean one grazing event per year. For areas with more
moisture, you might be able to return every 15 to 30 days for another grazing
event.
Ø
Develop a
monitoring and evaluation plan
This
is the most neglected part of range management, and the most important. A good
monitoring system will allow you to check how your management decisions are
working on the ground. It will allow you to determine, for instance, if a
particular grazing plan is having the desired effect over time. A monitoring
plan will often involve a few important evaluation criteria, such as plant
species composition, percent cover and frequency of species. By comparing these
measurements over time, you can start to see trends and can alter and adjust
your grazing system in order to arrive at your goals.
Recordkeeping
is a very important part of pasture monitoring. In addition to recording the
aforementioned physical measurements, keep track of when livestock enter and
leave a pasture; what materials or chemicals are used; revegetation or weed
control treatments; and observations on cattle health while in the pasture.
This information will be extremely useful in refining your grazing plans.
v
Participatory
Rangeland Management (PRM) as a land use planning and management tool for
pastoral areas
The
process of PRM is a series of sequential steps in which the elements are put in
place to produce a participatory rangeland management agreement. The objective
is to have an agreement that is endorsed by all relevant stakeholders, which is
legally binding and can be effectively monitored.
PRM
promotes inclusivity and participation of all stakeholders in land use planning
processes, including pastoralists, with a view to ensure improved rangeland
management and hence livelihoods, through the establishment of a government
certified rangeland management agreement.
The
PRM process can be divided into three distinct stages with underlying steps:
1. Investigating
PRM
The
first stage in the PRM process is the gathering of information about the
different resources found in the rangelands, their uses (including at different
times of the year), and the stakeholders and users (including their
institutions and groups that have a role in rangeland resource management).
This is achieved through the use of different tools including resource mapping
and stakeholder analysis.
Step
1: Identifying rangeland resources and users
The
basis of a rangeland management agreement is the rangeland’s resources and
resource users. Before negotiations can get underway it is essential that
everyone involved in the process has a clear understanding of what the
resources are and who the users are. Local government staff and NGO
representatives can facilitate the collection of information on rangeland
resources and assist communities to carry out a stakeholder analysis.
2. Negotiating
PRM
The
second stage is focused on negotiation. This is achieved through the following:
Step
2: Setting up or strengthening rangeland management institutions
The
establishment or strengthening of functional community-based rangeland
management institutions is at the centre of successful PRM. The rangeland
management institution is the body or group that will take on the roles and
responsibilities of community-based rangeland management. The strength of the
rangeland management institution is therefore critical, including the skills
and capabilities of its members to carry out the duties assigned to them.
Step 3: Defining
the rangeland management unit and preparing the rangeland resource assessment
The
rangeland management unit is the area of land over which the PRM institution
will have primary jurisdiction and authority. Defining this area, and
establishing the presence and condition of the resources found within it
through a participatory rangeland resource assessment, is the next step in the
process of participatory rangeland management.
Step
4: Developing the rangeland management plan
The
rangeland management plan is the vital last step before the drawing up of the
rangeland management agreement and its authorization. It is recommended that
the plan be developed by the rangeland management institution and be based on
discussions with all relevant community groups and other stakeholders.
Step
5: The rangeland management agreement
The
rangeland management agreement is the binding contract document for
participatory rangeland management between the government authorities and the
rangeland management institution.
The
final step of the ‘negotiation’ stage of PRM is the drawing up and signing of
the rangeland management agreement. It is likely that the formulation of the
rangeland management agreement will require extensive meetings, discussions and
negotiations between the government offices and the rangeland management
institution, particularly on rights and responsibilities
3. Implementing
PRM
The
final stage of the PRM process is the implementation of the rangeland management
plan, and adherence to the rangeland management agreement by the rangeland users.
Adherence is the responsibility of the rangeland management institution,
supported by the appropriate government office providing necessary technical
advice and legal backing. Regular monitoring and evaluation of the PRM process
is vital to ensure the implementation of the management plan and agreement,
with appropriate changes being made based on a system of adaptive management.
The rangeland management institution and the appropriate government office,
should work together to ensure implementation occurs. This new partnership will
require people to take on new roles and new ways of working.
Step
6: New roles for communities and rangeland management advisors
Participatory
rangeland management requires an effective partnership between the appropriate
local government office and the community rangeland management institution,
with each side working towards mutual goals. Important new changes are required
in the roles of these partners, as well as in the roles played by supporting
advisors/facilitators from NGOs and research institutes.
Step
7: Arresting and reversing declining rangeland productivity
Implementing
new rangeland management approaches through a practical working partnership is essential
for the success and maximum effectiveness of PRM. But communities should not be
left to get on with managing rangelands without assistance: they need support,
skills and technical knowhow from professional rangeland and natural resource
managers, particularly in the face of many new changes and pressures on
rangeland environments.
Step
8: Participatory monitoring and evaluation
The
effectiveness of its monitoring and evaluation system will ultimately determine
the success of the PRM process. Communities need to develop their own M&E systems
as part of taking up, or strengthening, their rangeland management roles. There
are two key steps within the PRM process where M&E must be integrated: in
the negotiating stage when developing the rangeland management plan, and here
in the implementation stage where M&E should be used to facilitate adaptive
management and/or help determine best management practices.
CONCLUSION
Rangelands
play an important role in the global environmental issues of today and they are
equally as deserving of international attention as rain forests. They are a
major sink of carbon, which can be increased by reversing degradation and
improving the production capacity, reducing the need for so many animals, at
the same time reducing the methane emission per animal and increasing the
livelihood chances of people in developing countries.
National
governments should adopt policies for the conserved use of rangelands and where
possible of rangeland improvement consisting of extension and aid programs,
supported by the local community, with the help of international development
programs.
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Flintan, F. and Cullis, A. (2009). Introductory
Guidelines to Participatory Rangeland Management in pastoral Areas. Save
the Children USA.
Fraser, D. (2013). The Four
Principles of Range Management. British Colombia Ministry of Forests, Lands
and Natural Resource Operations.
Lauchbaugh, K. (n.d.). What is
Rangeland Management?
Mannetje, L. (n.d.). Global
Issues of Rangeland Management. Wageningen.
Rinehart, L. (2008). Pasture,
Rangeland and Grazing Management. ATTRA-National Sustainable Agriculture
Information Service. Retrieved January 21, 2017, from
www.attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/PDF/past_range_graze.pdf
Society for Rangeland Management
(SRM). (n.d.). A Career in Rangeland Management: A wide Range of
Opportunities.
University of Idaho Rangeland
Centre and Idaho rangeland Resource Commission. (2011). Rangelands: An
Introduction to Wild Open Spaces. Moscow.
