he General Assembly,
Recognizing that healthy grassland and rangeland ecosystems are vital for
contributing to economic growth, resilient livelihoods and the sustainable development of pastoralism; regulating the flow of water; maintaining soil stability and biodiversity; and supporting carbon sequestration, tourism, and other ecosystem goods and services, as well as distinct lifestyles and cultures;
Aware that a significant proportion of the earth's terrestrial surface is classified as rangeland and grassland, that these biomes dominate land cover in dryland countries and countries affected by desertification, that a significant number of pastoralists in the world inhabit rangelands and grasslands, and that pastoralism is globally practiced in many different forms;
Recognizing that pastoralism is a dynamic and transformative system linked to the diverse cultures, identities, traditional knowledge, historical experience of coexisting with nature, and distinct way of life of indigenous peoples and local communities across the globe;
Also recognizing that rangelands and pastoralists, having contributed to enhancing and maintaining biodiversity, food security and sustainable management of rangelands, face urgent and different challenges around the world, including: widespread land degradation, loss of biodiversity, increasing vulnerability to climate change; land tenure insecurity; insufficient investment; inequitable development; inadequate levels of literacy; lack of adequate and relevant technology, infrastructure and access to markets; unsustainable changes in the use of land and natural resources; forced migration from and abandonment of rangelands; limited access to social and extension services; and faced with insecurity of both the pastoralists and the communities through which they traverse;
Acknowledging that efforts aimed at achieving sustainable rangelands and pastoralism need to be rapidly up-scaled so as to make significant impact in achieving all Sustainable; Development Goals in drylands and mountainous areas; and that an International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralism would help to promote the necessary attention and investment required for such urgent change,
Grassroots
August 2017
Vol. 17, No.3
News
16
Draft Resolution on a United Nations International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, 2020
Steering Committee promoting the IYRP
https://globalrangelands.org/international-year- rangelands-and-pastoralists-initiative
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