The methodology is designed to assess rangeland health at scale but with enough flexibility to adapt to specific context and country. The scale of assessment is determined by a combination of administrative (e.g. boundaries) and ecological factors (bioclimatic zones, landscape level variability, site variability). The scale of assessment therefore also guide decision making, and we should consider the scale at which relevant decisions are made
The methodology is implemented according to the local land users’ management objectives, against which rangeland health will be assessed, and based on a combination of scientific and local knowledge. There may be competing management objectives. Hence the participants need to agree on objectives and the indicator selection process (supported by a limited number of core representative indicators), based on participatory maps; this will help define and agree on the management objectives.
The methodology considers both scientific and local knowledge. The role of local knowledge is critical in informing indicator selection and improving the quality of assessments. Participation of relevant stakeholders in all steps of the implementation of the methodology is essential to build trust with the land managers (land owners and land users), to draw on local knowledge, to help negotiate the incorporation of science and local knowledge in the methodology, and to contribute more generally to empowerment of rangeland managers.
Photo: Jonathan Davies
The methodology has been tested in 7 countries namely: Kenya, Burkina Faso, Niger, Uruguay, Kyrgyzstan, Egypt and Jordan. There are prospects to roll it out in other regions within these countries and also to replicate it in other countries. Most of the countries where the methodology has been tested so far are IUCN state members [OC1] and within the countries, IUCN members were involved to a large extend in testing the methodology.
A revised version is produced based on the assessment results and lessons learnt; it includes the common indicators that should be used to assess rangeland health.
The methodology can be used for awareness raising purposes at the local, national and global level. Awareness raising should also specifically target the importance of participatory approaches in decision-making. At the national level, the right audience should be targeted to ensure the methodology influences decision making processes at national and local level. At the global level, some of the audiences includes Civil Society organizations, Intergovernmental institutions, development partners, Banks, the private sector...
Some lessons include:
- Local communities have a good knowledge of natural resources and their state
- Local land degradation indicators are relevant to rangeland health assessment and they provide more detail than those of remote sensing
- GIS and remote sensing tools allow for large-scale extrapolation of field assessment results
- There is complementarity between the remote sensing and local field indicators methods, they can be integrated to develop a holistic tool for assessing rangelands
- There is a need to exclusively consider the role of vulnerable groups and women as stakeholders
- mapping exercise characterize the landscape and different scales (micro and macro)
For more information on the methodology across the countries, Please Click here
