ICARDA
Rangeland or Desert ? - October 21, 1996

Rangeland or steppe which provides essential feed resources for sheep and goats is being damaged at a catastrophic rate throughout the world's drier areas-threatening not only desertification, but supplies of meat. It could also damage production of dairy products such as milk, cheese and ghee, essential parts of the diet of the poor.

Fuelwood supplies could be reduced too. And the decline could increase drought and the concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Overgrazing is an important part of the process, but fuelwood gathering and, especially, unwise cereals cultivation, which can be an environmental disaster, are responsible.

If action is not taken, vast areas of marginal land could turn into desert. These dangers are highlighted in the latest issue of Caravan, the general-audience publication of the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) in Aleppo, Syria. The center, the mandate of which includes preservation and improvement of rangeland and feed resources, is pursuing a strategy of rangeland rehabilitation and conservation in collaboration with national governments and farmers throughout the dry areas of the world.

"Recent estimates are that the steppe area is being reduced by 1% annually by a combination of desertification and improper cereal cropping," says Dr Gustave Gintzburger, Leader of the Pasture, Forage and Rangeland Program of ICARDA. "About 9 million sq. km. of the world's drylands have been rendered unproductive in the last 50 years. Ordinary farmland wrecked by unwise modern irrigation accounts for much of this, but rangeland is also significant. It can no longer cope with the demands upon it; whereas 40 years ago it provided about 60-80% of the small ruminants' diet, it can now barely meet 5-10% in the WANA region."

There is a further threat- fuelwood gathering. Research in Iraq and North Africa in the late 1960s suggested that a nomad tent of 10 persons would consume 3.5-4 tonnes of dry wood a year. Set this against a contemporary above-ground biomass in the rangelands of 200-500 kg per hectare and we are faced not only with a shortage of fuel and feed, but something even more sinister on a long-term basis. The changes brought about in the vegetation cover and soil composition of the rangelands in this way may lead not only to a reduction in convective rainfall, causing local drought, but greater concentrations of carbon dioxide- with global climatic implications.

"At the moment, the drought-and-dioxide threat is a matter of informed speculation, but there is justification for further research," says Dr Gintzburger. "And certainly there is a need for strong action for rangeland protection and rehabilitation. We cannot afford to wait any longer."

The rangeland feature in Caravan, and items in earlier issues, describe some of the measures that the ICARDA team is taking to combat this desertification menace. These include:

• Using shrubs with a low water requirement to establish grazing reserves on the steppe. These can be used to feed livestock at critical times of year.
• Reseeding of damaged land with small-seeded pasture legumes.
• Establishing which areas are at risk by doing survey work, using a combination of aerial photography and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Japanese scientists have collaborated with ICARDA to execute this project.
• Developing alternative feed resources from crop residues by breeding for straw palatability, and encouraging more efficient agriculture off-range.
• Finding out more about the way people actually use rangeland - and using this information to develop models which can help predict the effect of policy changes, for example those affecting land tenure.
• Involving range-users themselves much more closely with the development and conservation process. ICARDA has found that pastoralists often have better systems for conservation and grazing control than scientists realize, and thinks these should be taken into account when planning more formal measures. It has also found out more about the role of women in the decision-making process in pastoralist groups.
• "We believe that this growing crisis can only be dealt with by looking at all the factors involved," says Dr Gintzburger. "For decades overgrazing has been blamed on animals, but they're providing our food! If there is a way to stop and reverse damage to rangeland, we'll find it by looking at all the factors in context."