Establishing the ecological status of rangelands

Context

Climate change and unsustainable land use practices occurring in the context of weak environmental governance increasingly drive degradation of rangeland ecosystems, threatening the sustainability of traditional pastoral and agro-pastoral livelihoods in Somaliland. Recurring droughts, with increased frequency and severity, have caused losses in plant biodiversity, such as grasses and non-acacia trees and shrubs. The effects of drought are exacerbated by human demands for water driven by growing populations in the context of receding groundwater tables. These drought-driven changes have a ripple effect through pastoral and agro-pastoral communities that depend on these ecosystems for critical goods and services (e.g. pasture, housing material, wild foods and traditional medicinal plants). Centuries-long cultural attachment to the traditional nomadic and semi-nomadic way of life is also threatened by the rapid land degradation.

At the same time, growing use of land enclosures within historically open rangelands have dramatically reduced the available pasture, leading to severe overgrazing in the remaining communal rangelands. Extensive tree cutting both for fencing the enclosures and commercial charcoal production have further resulted in significant land cover changes, leading to increased soil erosion and desertification. The decreasing productivity increases the vulnerability of pastoral and agro-pastoral communities to climate shocks, often resulting in large-scale rural depopulation.

These trends have implications for wider society and the economy, as a significant proportion of the population directly depend on agricultural production and trade for their subsistence, and employment and incomes. Milk and meat are the main protein sources across Somaliland, millions are employed in livestock value chains and  livestock exports account for 85% of Somaliland’s export earnings. Declining agricultural production in the context of high population growth and rapid urbanisation has created a situation in which domestic food demand is increasingly met by food imports – a dependency that presents considerable food security risks because of the exposure of household consumption to high price volatility in global commodity markets. Taken together, these issues mean that rangeland degradation is one of the main drivers of poverty and vulnerability in Somaliland.

Weak environmental governance due the lack of enforceable land tenure law, alongside weakened traditional xeer-based customary law for managing communal grazing in rangelands, exacerbate the situation. The weak governance leaves unabated the deleterious effects of unsustainable land use practices in the context of the changing climate, and can also drive tensions between rangeland users. There is also very limited research capacity to generate the evidence necessary for effective policymaking and community actions to support the uptake and scaling up and out of sustainable rangeland management practices.

Aims and Objectives

Addressing some of these challenges, this project aims to establish the ecological status of five rangelands and identify mitigation options for their restoration and protection. This is achieved through the following objectives:

• Assess the environmental and ecological condition of rangelands via land cover mapping and classification using remote sensed data and plant surveys.
• Identify patterns and drivers of land degradation, and their impact on stocks and flows of ecosystem services.
• Develop plausible scenarios for mitigation options and assess the impact of each over different time horizons. This will yield robust evidence to help prioritize policy and community-led interventions for rangeland restoration, rehabilitation, and protection.
• Develop and deliver a capacity building programme in ecological sampling and use of data to support evidence-based policymaking.

Expected outputs include a methodology that can be used to evaluate the status of other rangelands in Somaliland and beyond, academic journal papers, a capacity building manual and policy briefs.