NEWS
forms of land use , extensive pastoralism is the most ecologically sound land use in these vegetation types .
Mongabay : What are some foundational misconceptions in the rangeland narrative ?
Susanne Vetter : When I did my PhD research on land degradation in communally managed rangelands in South Africa , I became acutely aware of the mismatch between mainstream development thinking and the realities on the ground . The knowledge and experience of local land users were neglected in the development process and implementation of rangeland policy .
As an academic in plant ecology , I have become aware of how strongly ecological thinking and training are shaped by ecological paradigms originating in the Global North . Notably , vegetation type is determined primarily by climate ; fire and herbivory are rare disturbances . Large areas of the world are natural grasslands , savannas , and other open ecosystems wet enough to support forest , but maintained by fire and / or herbivory . Specialist flora and fauna have adapted to these conditions . There is still a common misconception that open ecosystems were created by humans through overgrazing and deforestation — this has led to myriad inappropriate interventions to increase tree cover .
Within agriculture , African pastoralism has long been viewed as inefficient and destructive . Narratives about the “ Tragedy of the Commons ” and the “ cattle complex ” have led to the widespread assumption that pastoralists aim to amass livestock for individual gain on a shared resource , which inevitably becomes overused . These narratives ignore the complexities of local livelihood systems , as well as the history of these systems , including their traditional management and how this has become increasingly modified and constrained .
Mongabay : Why do so many people seem to get the narrative wrong ?
Susanne Vetter : A key issue is a persistent focus on increasing productivity and stability , which is at odds with the inherently unstable , unpredictable nature of drylands that form the basis of most pastoral systems . The attraction of “ greening the desert ” is as seductive as always , even though there are good reasons why deserts aren ’ t green . There is plenty of evidence that greening through tree planting and irrigation schemes is unsustainable and damaging . In Diana Davis ’ book The Arid Lands : History , Power , Knowledge , she provides a fascinating analysis of how modern development thinking has remarkable continuities with colonial forestry and colonial resource management . Such entrenched paradigms are hard to change .
At the same time , it is overly simplistic to see “ development ” as a monolithic , homogeneous endeavour . Many organizations have long been embracing and promoting more land user-centric and locally appropriate approaches . But scale has become a recurring problem . Locally appropriate and sustainable approaches often take time , but don ’ t result in striking increases in outputs and are hard to scale up . Yet many funders want to see a big impact in a short time and over large areas .
There is an obvious gap when one goes to any conference on ecology , conservation , or rangelands , even when the focus is the tropics : the limited number of African ecologists generating and contributing original knowledge to these global debates . Despite Africa being home to a large part of the world ’ s savannas and most of the world ’ s extant megafauna , the number of senior , research-active African savanna ecologists is vanishingly small in comparison to the size of the international ecological community . Many African academics with their students studied abroad themselves , on a diet of ecology curricula that fail to represent African open ecosystems and their dynamics . This perpetuates the situation where inappropriate ecological models and worldviews inform development .
Mongabay : Could you speak a bit about the capacity of grasslands to sink carbon in the context of afforestation — growing trees where they didn ’ t historically exist — or reforestation — growing trees where forests did historically exist ?
Susanne Vetter : The contribution of grasslands to carbon storage has indeed been widely overlooked . Much of the focus when it comes to deforestation and tree planting is on the carbon stored above ground , in the wood of trees . Grasslands don ’ t have high aboveground biomass but store large amounts of carbon in their extensive root systems and the soil . When grasslands burn , the carbon released during the fire is quickly recovered in the next season ’ s growth . At the same time , when roots die back after fire , the carbon released from the breakdown of the dead root material is incorporated into the soil . Carbon storage in the soils of grasslands is resilient to fire and grazing , while extreme hot and dry weather events and wildfires make forests increasingly vulnerable to losing their stored carbon .
However , grassland soils quickly lose their carbon when they are ploughed or otherwise disturbed ( e . g . afforestation ). It is thus important to recognize the role grasslands play in capturing carbon and to protect remaining natural grasslands from soil disturbance . Low-intensity grazing by wildlife and / or livestock is the most naturally compatible way to protect the carbon storage function of grasslands .
Mongabay : What are some successful models of forest landscape restoration in the African context ? What sets them apart from others that may be well-intentioned but miss the mark ?
Susanne Vetter : There is no doubt that many areas have experienced negative land use and can benefit from restoration . The key is involving local land users and land managers from inception — their knowledge and needs must inform intervention type , location , and timeline . Understanding the local and larger-scale ecological , social and political dynamics will help to ensure that strategies are based on correct assumptions and models . All this takes time and requires more than a technical “ fix .”
The Shinyanga region in Tanzania is a good example . Since 1986 , over 300,000 hectares [ 741,000 acres ] of transformed acacia and miombo woodlands have been restored in over 800 villages , at scales ranging from individual household plots to village forests . A conducive policy environment , the inclusion of local knowledge , and recognizing the livelihood benefits of the restoration initiative all contributed to this initiative ’ s success .
In other cases ,
trees may not be the answer — sometimes , they may even be the problem . South Africa is a water-scarce country with vast areas of fire-driven grasslands , savannas , and shrublands . Invasive exotic trees have a massive impact on streamflow and therefore water security ; this has led to a massive public works program called “ Working for Water .” Every year , large areas are cleared of water-thirsty exotic vegetation while creating employment for thousands of workers . The positive effect on water yields makes the project cost-effective and sustainable .
Mongabay : What are viable strategies to support traditional pastoral land use while optimizing the process with new findings ?
Susanne Vetter : While recognizing the merits of traditional mobile pastoralist systems , it is important to acknowledge that societies and their cultures are not static . The challenge is to foster aspects of traditional pastoralism that
19 Grassroots Vol 22 No 1 March 2022