Over 50 percent of the global land surface consists of mostly arid, but also too cold, too steep or too high-altitude areas where cereal, fruit and vegetable cultivation are not sustainable. These steppes and grass savannahs are very often used as grazing land. Even in earlier times, pastoralism, especially when it was nomadic in nature, was less valued than agriculture. Historically, agriculture – and with it, sedentary life – was long considered a higher level of civilisation than nomadic pastoralism. This still bears traces of a colonial interpretation and is no longer appropriate in the 21st century. The fact that grazing allows ecosystems to be utilized for human nutrition that would otherwise be unusable for human consumption, and that grazing – when practiced correctly – is a particularly sustainable use of ecosystems, is largely ignored in the debate.
This disregard is currently being exacerbated in the context of the climate debate, in which cattle are being proverbially ‘bashed’ for their methane emissions, even though they have the potential (along with other ruminants such as camels, goats and sheep) can be used most sustainably for human protein supply, as it simply lives on natural growth, promotes biodiversity and practices climate protection. Apart from soils in permafrost regions, moors and grasslands contain most of the carbon stored in the soil. When they are converted into farmland, large amounts of greenhouse gases are released, biodiversity is often destroyed, and soil fertility and water storage capacity are significantly reduced. The conversion of grassland in Central Europe has been associated with very high CO2 emissions for many years. Preserving grassland as a carbon sink only works with grass-eating animals.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that for 100 million people in semi-arid areas and probably another 100 million people in other regions, grazing livestock is the only available source of protein and income. However, to date, far more investment has been poured into the further development of crop farming than into improving natural pastures and their livestock. This is particularly true for more marginal pastures, such as those in arid regions. One reason for this may be the low investment incentive: pastoralists improve their yields almost exclusively by optimising natural resources and less by using industrially manufactured, external means of production. In Europe, livestock farmers who rely on grazing systems have often been economically marginalised for many years, and their contribution to functioning ecosystems is not recognised, let alone adequately remunerated.
In almost all countries of the Global South, it is pastoralists who have the poorest access to social infrastructure and education – and their opportunities for political influence are correspondingly limited.
I have taken the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists 2026 (IYRP2026) as an opportunity to commission a study on the status quo and the protection and use of global pastoral lands.
I hope that this form of sustainable animal husbandry will receive more recognition and support, and I wish you much enjoyment and new insights as you read!
Recording of the 27.01.2026 release event