RANGELAND MANAGEMENT
We work in rangelands across Brazil and Sub-Saharan Africa to study how local context and implementation strategies can support the uptake and durability of this initiative at the landscape scale.
Cattle struggling to find food near the end of the dry season in Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Reserve, South Africa.
Photo by Matt Clark
Grasslands cover approximately 40% of the earth’s terrestrial area. Accordingly, they are critical for food production, carbon storage, biodiversity, and human cultures around the world. The United Nations has named 2026 as the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists.
For example, we are working with Herding for Health, which is a Pan-African initiative to more sustainably manage rangelands for people and nature, currently implemented (or planned) across Botswana, Eswatini, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The ambition of this initiative is to bring 7 million hectares of rangeland under improved management by 2030.
We research what drives uptake of these initiatives, their social and ecological outcomes, and whether outcomes are just and equitable for the communities. This work involves compiling insights from high-resolution satellite-based observations, statistical models and computer simulations, as well as in-depth qualitative and ethnographic information from community meetings and researcher field visits.
Collaborators:
Gina Arena (Conservation South Africa), Ruan de Wet (Meat Naturally), Carlos Munoz Brenes (Conservation International), Elias Damtew Assef and Erik Olsson (Conservation International), Anna Haw (Maliasili), Thomas Pienkowski (University of Kent, UK), Alta de Vos (Stellenbosch University, South Africa), Rafael Chiaravalloti (University College London, UK)
