It is important for land managers and technical assistance specialists to be able to assess the health of rangelands in order to know where to focus management efforts. The complexity of ecological processes, and the inherent expense of directly measuring site integrity, suggests a need for an evaluation process that focuses instead on biological and physical attributes. In a collaborative effort, the USGS, ARS, BLM, and NRCS have jointly developed a system in which 17 indicators are used to gauge three attributes of rangeland health.

Garba Tula district in Isiolo County of Northern Kenya, is a region covering approximately 10,000km and home to around 40,000 predominantly Boran Pastoralists. The region is characterised by arid and semi-arid conditions and is rich in biodiversity and wildlife resources. Despite being surrounded by protected areas such as Meru National Park and Bisan Adi Game Reserve the full potential for conservation is not being met, and instead communities are often threatened and restricted by wildlife populations.

This report on harnessing pastoralists’ indigenous knowledge of rangeland management in three countries in East and the Horn of Africa is presented in two parts. The first part presents a review of the literature. The second presents the findings from the Orma in Tana River District of Kenya, the Afar in Amibara and Gawane Districts of the Afar Regional State in Ethiopia and the Karamojong in the Moroto District of Uganda.

As part of the Global Call to Action in Indigenous and Community Land Rights, this brief puts the spotlight on the need to secure land rights for the world's pastoralists, as pastoralism is practised by an estimated 200-500 million people. Pastoralists manage rangelands that cover a quarter of the world's land surface but have few advocates.

"Pastoralists have been widely accused of being economically inefficient and turning their ‘over-grazed’ pastures into deserts. But these presumptions are not based on evidence and are usually very wide of the mark."

 Annoncés depuis un semestre, les ETP 2 ont été lancés le 3 juillet 2017 à Niamey, au Niger sous présidence effective du Ministre Délégué en charge de l’Elevage du Niger, M. Mohamed Boucha en présence du Représentant résident de la Banque mondiale, M. Siaka Bakayoko, du Charge du PRAPS NE, à la Banque mondiale, M/ Souleymane Fofana, l’ Administrateur Intérimaire du Centre Régional Agrhymet, Samba Souleymane Ly.

Green energy is expected to be a significant part of the solution to Africa’s energy problems. But what new problems may arise if progress exacts at a high cost? Lake Turkana Wind Power is the largest private investment ever in Kenya, and Danish and international companies and investors have already sunk millions of euros into the project. But they now await a court decision which will determine whether the land on which the turbines will be built was illegally acquired.

Until recently, the Pokot in the highlands of the Baringo area in Kenya have practised semi-nomadic pastoralism. Today they are rapidly sedentarizing and in many areas suitable for farming, they are adopting rain-fed agriculture. As a result of these dynamics, claims to individual property on de facto communal rangelands have arisen, and to such an extent that they seriously threaten the peace of the community. This article explores the conflicts that emerge in the transition from common property to private tenure.

2.0 RECENT EVENTS 5.0 UGANDA GAZETTES A NATIONAL LAND POLICY 6.0 PLAYING THE “CONSERVATION CARD’: THE KHWE SAN IN NAMIBIA’S BWABWATA NATIONAL PARK 7.0 SECURING LAND TITLES FOR PASTORALIST WOMEN: THE STORY OF SAKALA 8.0 PROTESTS AGAINST CONVERSION OF PASTORAL LANDS INTENSIFY IN INDIA 9.0 PASTURE PROTECTOIN IN ADILA LOCALITY, DARFUR, SUDAN 10.0 VICTORIOUS IN TANZANIA 11.0 MORE RECENT EVENTS 12.0 18,000 CATTLE GIVEN PASSAGE ACROSS AUSTRALIA

INDEX 3.0 RECENT EVENTS 5.0 COMPETENT BUT IGNORED: BRINGING MAASAI YOUTH INTO LAND TENURE DECISION MAKING 6.0 CONFLICTS BETWEEN MBORORO AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ENDS POSITIVELY FOR PASTORALISTS 7.0 A VISION FOR A JUST AND PROSPEROUS FUTURE? THE LAPSSET CORRIDOR 8.0 PASTORAL PROTESTS IN HANSALPUR INTENSIFY 9.0 BENCHMARKS FOR LAND GOVERNANCE IN AFRICA 10.0 NEW INITIATIVES CONTRIBUTING TO MAKING RANGELANDS SECURE 12.0 RANGELANDS INITIATIVE RECEIVES FUNDING FROM SDC

INDEX 2.0 RECENT EVENTS 4.0 PASTORALISTS DO PLAN! EXPERIENCES OF MURSI LAND USE PLANNING, SOUTH OMO ETHIOPIA 5.0 PROGRESS OF THE COMMUNITY LAND BILL, KENYA 6.0 DEVELOPING SILVOPASTORAL SYSTEMS FOR MORE SECURE ACCESS TO LAND IN THE CHACO REGION OF SOUTH AMERICA 7.0 ONGOING CONFLICTS IN LOLIONDO, TANZANIA 8.0 EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN THROUGH THE PASTORAL WOMEN’S ALLIANCE, INDIA 9.0 PUBLICATIONS - RANGELANDS 10.0 NEW INITIATIVES MAKING RANGELANDS MORE SECURE 11.0 MORE RECENT EVENTS

INDEX 2.0 RECENT EVENTS 3.0 PROTECTING LIVESTOCK MOBILITY ROUTES: LESSONS LEARNED 4.0 KENYA’S CONSTITUTION 2010 What will it mean for tenure security in rangelands? ‘Equal rights for women’ say Maasai elders 5.0 CAN VILLAGE LAND USE PLANNING WORK FOR RANGELANDS? 6.0 PROTECTING RIGHTS OF HUNTER-GATHERERS IN TANZANIA 7.0 OTHER NEWS FROM THE REGION Improving rangeland quality through land use planning Developing policies in Uganda 8.0 LAUNCH OF RANGELAND OBSERVATORY

This report is an extended analytical essay, on the perverse outcomes of statist interventions into customary land management practices over a huge area that has been managed sustainably and productively by Tibetan pastoralists for 9000 years. Building on the many reports on sedentarisation, and removal of pastoral nomads from their pastures, this report takes a wider perspective, seeking to understand how the current collapse of the pastoral mode of production came about, and what the future prospects are for the depopulating pastoral landscapes of the Tibetan Plateau.