How People and Livestock Can Coexist to Support Nature

Ranchers in the Northern Great Plains of the United States and Canada operate in a unique space where local traditions intersect with global markets. Challenges such as narrow financial margins, limited labor availability and severe climate events like droughts and wildfires threaten their operations. These pressures also impact the health of rangelands and the surrounding environment.

Opportunities for sustainability include adopting adaptive grazing management and land-based restoration practices. Methods like rotational grazing and optimized grazing can promote healthy plant communities, restore soil health and increase water retention. Targeted incentives such as payments for ecosystem services could encourage ranchers to integrate these practices, bolstering biodiversity while maintaining agricultural productivity.

On the high slopes of the Andes, livestock producers are adopting regenerative practices like silvopasture, re-integrating trees into grazing systems. These methods help restore degraded landscapes, diversify farm profits, combat climate change and enhance biodiversity. By increasing shade and soil fertility, silvopasture benefits people, livestock and ecosystems.

However, implementation remains financially challenging. Many producers lack access to technical and financial resources needed to transition to new practices, and markets do not yet reward these regenerative practices. Policies that provide financial incentives, along with education and technical assistance, can empower producers to transition to silvopasture and to reduce reliance on practices that cause deforestation and biodiversity loss.

In Tanzania’s Tarangire-Manyara ecosystem, livestock are central to the livelihoods and cultural heritage of the Maasai people. These pastoralist (or semi-nomadic) communities rely on grazing native grasslands to feed their herds. However, this extensive grazing system faces challenges such as fragile soils, unstable land access rights, invasive species and competition with wildlife for limited resources. Seasonal water shortages and prolonged droughts, worsened by climate change, exacerbate these challenges.

Sustainability solutions include improving livestock breeds to enhance resilience and productivity and adopting grazing strategies that reduce land degradation. Culturally attuned technical advisory programs could help herders adopt practices that support both livestock and wildlife, sustaining traditional livelihoods and supporting environmental conservation.