Global plight of native temperate grasslands: going, going, gone?

Abstract

The indelible imprint of humanity is credited for the major degradation of natural systems worldwide. Nowhere are the transforming qualities of mankind more apparent than in the native temperate grassland regions of the world. Formerly occupying some 9 million km², or 8% of the planet’s terrestrial surface, native temperate grasslands have been reduced to vestiges of their former glory. Only 4.6% are conserved globally within protected areas—a testament to being the least protected and the most extensively transformed of the world’s terrestrial biomes. The aim of this paper is to continue promoting the conservation value of native temperate grasslands, and reiterate the need for further protection and sustainable management before further losses and inadequate protection undermine ecological integrity any further. A new strategic direction is presented for the next decade, underpinned by ten key focus areas. The most realistic opportunities to improve protection lie in central, eastern and western Asia where landscape-scale tracts of native temperate grassland remain in reasonable condition. Such a course necessitates a strong reliance on integrating sustainable use and conservation by promoting concepts such as Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas as legitimate and recognized forms of protected areas. Here the conservation value of working rangeland landscapes utilised by nomadic pastoralists comes to the fore. The naive and short-sighted approach to viewing native temperate grasslands merely as a palette for transformation and intensive utilisation should be weighed more objectively against an understanding of the myriad benefits they provide.

Appendices

Appendix A

The Hohhot Declaration signed at the World Temperate Grasslands Conservation Initiative Workshop, 21st International Grasslands Congress/8th International Rangeland Congress, 28th–29th June 2008, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China.

We, the participants of the World Temperate Grasslands Conservation Initiative, recognize that:

Considering that temperate indigenous grasslands provide environmental services essential for life on earth as a source of food, fibre, human livelihoods and well-being, cultural and biological diversity, the recharge of aquifers and the sequestration of carbon, particularly in the face of global climate change;

Agreeing that temperate indigenous grasslands are terrestrial ecosystems dominated by herbaceous and shrub vegetation, maintained by grazing, fire, drought and/or low temperatures and that all of these processes are dynamic and display great variability in terms of time, extent, intensity and place;

Recognizing the opportunities that temperate indigenous grasslands provide in feeding people, it is imperative to maintain the genetic diversity of grassland systems;

Realizing the importance of temperate indigenous grasslands to the life and cultural survival of mobile indigenous peoples and the value of indigenous knowledge as well as the accumulated experience of traditional indigenous temperate grasslands users;

Acknowledging that temperate indigenous grasslands are currently considered among the most imperiled ecosystems on the planet, having been modified by human activity to such a degree that most grasslands have been transformed and very little remains in a natural state;

Recognizing that the remaining areas of natural grassland continue to be threatened by inappropriate policies that lead to loss of grassland, as well as unsustainable land use and management practices;

Acknowledging that success will require participatory management approaches and partnerships among all sectors to ensure the integration of production and biodiversity conservation outcomes for the continued provision of grassland ecological goods and services;

Recognizing the importance of strengthening indigenous territories, community conserved areas and the establishment of new protected areas;

Recognizing that one of the most important opportunities for collaboration is ensuring worldwide societal recognition of the enduring value of natural grasslands;

Developing and implementing incentives for good land stewardship, restoration and the sustainable management of indigenous temperate grasslands is essential to guaranteeing their sustainable use as healthy working environments.

Therefore, we the participants of the Hohhot World Temperate Grasslands Conservation Initiative Workshop from five continents and 14 countries, declare that temperate indigenous grasslands are critically endangered and urgent action is required to protect and maintain the services they provide to sustain human life. We call upon all sectors of society to collaborate towards this goal.

Signatories to the Hohhot Declaration

Li Bo, China

John MacKinnon, China

Dr Wu Ning, China

Dr Luo Peng, China

Gendensengee Enkhtaivan, Mongolia

Enebish Tumurbaatar, Mongolia

Eugene Simonov, Russia

Ilya Smelaynsky, Russia

Dr Tatiana Tkachuk, Russia

Dr Clinton Carbutt, South Africa

Anthea Stephens, South Africa

Mahlodi Tau, South Africa

Dr Alan Mark, New Zealand

Dr Katherine Dickinson, New Zealand

Louise Gilfedder, Australia

Dr Bronwyn Myers, Australia

Dr Dick Williams, Australia

Dr Ian Lunt, Australlia

Dr Taghi Farver, Iran

Jalil Noroozi, Iran

Karsten Wesche, Germany

Jeff Hardesty, United States

Susan Antenen, United States

Bill Henwood, Canada

Bruno Delesalle, Canada

Bob Peart, Canada

Ed Wiken, Canada

Robert Hofstede, Ecuador

Andrea Michelson, Ecuador

Jurgen Hoth, Mexico

Elizabeth Juliana Jacobo, Argentina

Ulises Martinez, Argentina

Fernando Olmos, Uruguay

Appendix B

The Bariloche Declaration signed at the World Temperate Grasslands Conservation Initiative Workshop, 6th Southern Connection Congress, 17th February 2010, Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina.

We, the contributors and/or participants of the all-day Symposium “Progress with conservation and sustainable management of the Southern Hemisphere’s indigenous temperate grasslands: developing a strategic plan”, organized by the Temperate Grasslands Conservation Initiative (TGCI); an initiative of the World Commission of Protected Areas (WCPA) of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), recognize that:

Agreeing that the Hohhot Declaration¹ (June, 2008) sets up a strong case for conservation and sustainable management of indigenous temperate grasslands and closely associated ecosystems at a global level, given that these ecosystems are currently considered among the most imperilled on the planet;

Recognizing that since the Hohhot Declaration, new pressures and threats to indigenous temperate grasslands preservation have emerged and former threats are now pressures;

Considering that indigenous temperate grasslands still occupy significant areas in the world, and play a key role in national economies;

Realizing that exploitation or replacement of indigenous temperate grasslands might have increased as a result of the global financial crisis and to counterbalance its impact on development and economy, although the link between cause and effect has not been analyzed on a global level;

Acknowledging that climate change can seriously affect biodiversity and the provision of goods and services by indigenous temperate grasslands, thus having a negative impact on people that depend on them for sustaining their lives and livelihoods;

Considering that mitigation recommendations made at the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC, Copenhagen, 2009) focus on the reduction of deforestation and restoration of degraded forests, but no mitigation approach deals with indigenous temperate grasslands whatsoever;

Realizing that indigenous temperate grasslands whether sustainably grazed or ungrazed have a great potential to mitigate climate change effects through significant carbon capture and storage, and that such potential has not been fully understood or explored;

Considering that vulnerable communities living in temperate grasslands are already suffering from the impacts of climate change, and that urgent actions need to be taken to enhance their adaptation capability and to reduce their vulnerability to climate change effects;

Realizing that the exploitation of indigenous temperate grasslands to produce new/alternative energy sources (biofuels, wind farms, etc.) is sometimes essential for development and economic growth, but that the impact of such activities can further compromise the conservation and sustainable management of these grasslands;

Considering that at the 9th COP to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Buenos Aires, 2009, it was stated that sustainable land management can make a critical contribution to fortify our ability to adapt to a changing climate because it strengthens resilience and enhances agricultural production, food security and economic development through carbon sequestration and efforts to combat soil loss and restore plant cover;

Acknowledging that many indigenous temperate grasslands play an important role in poverty and hunger alleviation and food production, and thus they are strategic for the accomplishment of Millennium Development Goals (MDG) at a national level;

Considering that the 10th COP of the CBD will soon be held (Nagoya, Japan, October 2010) and taking into account that we are celebrating the International Year of Biodiversity, which brings a new opportunity to raise awareness of society and decision makers on the relevance of biodiversity to human well-being;

Therefore,

We the contributors and/or participants of the Temperate Grasslands Conservation Initiative Symposium in Bariloche from three continents and eight countries of the Southern Hemisphere, plus Canada, the United States of America and England:

Declare that the temperate indigenous grasslands require urgent and targeted action to protect, maintain and restore their many valuable social, cultural, economic and ecological services they provide to sustain human life and well-being;

Encourage the CBD Conference of the Parties reunited at the 10th meeting in Nagoya, Japan, in October 2010, to adopt specific measures to protect temperate grasslands within the revised and updated Strategic Plan for the Convention, including new targets for temperate grasslands conservation for the post-2010 period;

Recommend to the COP to increase funds through the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), the funding mechanism of the CBD, for temperate grasslands conservation and sustainable management;

Encourage other donors to increase funding for temperate grasslands conservation and sustainable management;

Encourage the 16th COP for the UNFCCC to value the potential of temperate grasslands to mitigate climate change effects and to propose new mechanisms and tools for mitigation based on sustainable management;

Strongly suggest that, in light of the International Year of Biodiversity, IUCN Secretariat, institutional members and expert commissions adopt specific communication actions to raise the awareness of the need to improve the conservation and sustainable management of indigenous temperate grasslands of the world;

Encourage the United Nations to declare before 2012, a UN International Day of Temperate Grasslands for the promotion of conservation of the biome;

Recommend that the IUCN Secretariat, in preparation to the next World Conservation Congress (Jeju, Republic of Korea, 2012) include temperate grasslands as one of the key issues for the meeting;

Encourage government and non-government organizations working in temperate indigenous grasslands to design and/or test innovative tools, methodologies and research for sustainable management, stewardship, climate change adaptation, economic assessment and social well-being;

Encourage markets that commercialize goods and services produced from temperate indigenous grassland resources to utilise sustainable production practices that maintain ecosystem functions, connectivity and local identity, and restrict the spread of biosecurity threats.

We call upon all sectors of society to collaborate towards the implementation of the recommendations proposed herein.

Signatories to the Bariloche Declaration

Alan Mark, Dunedin, New Zealand

Andrea Michelson, Quito, Ecuador

Katharine Dickinson, Dunedin, New Zealand

Stephan Halloy, Santiago, Chile

Stephan Beck, La Paz, Bolivia

Juan Carlos Ledezma, La Paz, Bolivia

Mercedes Ibánez, Santiago, Chile

Karina Yager, Washington D.C., USA

Donaldo Bran Bariloche, Argentina

William Bond, Cape Town, South Africa

Emma Gray, Cape Town, South Africa

Nick Zaloumis, Cape Town, South Africa

Clinton Carbutt, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

Richard Williams, Darwin, Australia

Ary Hoffman, Melbourne, Australia

James Camac, Melbourne, Australia

Carl-Henrik Wahren, Melbourne, Australia

Warwick Papst, Melbourne, Australia

Ian Mansergh, Melbourne, Australia

Keith McDougall, Queanbeyan, Australia

Fred Duncan, Hobart, Australia

Louise Gilfedder, Hobart, Australia

William Lee, Dunedin, New Zealand

Matt McGlone, Christchurch, New Zealand

Geoffrey Rogers, Dunedin, New Zealand

Michael Pirie, Stellenbosch, South Africa

Kelvin Lloyd, Dunedin, New Zealand

Javier Beltran, Bariloche, Argentina

Andrea Nogues, Bariloche, Argentina

Ana Cingolani, Cordoba, Argentina

Melisa G. Renison, Cordoba, Argentina

Ana Faggi, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Gustavo Zuleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Marina Homberg, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Barbara Johnson Guida, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Deigo Schell, Buenos, Aires, Argentina

Francisco Cuesta-Camacho, Quito, Ecuador

Woutert Buyaert, London, England

Colin Meurk, Christchurch, New Zealand

Glen Stewart, Christchurch, New Zealand

Mary K. Arroyo, Santiago, Chile

Marcus Simons, Dunedin, New Zealand

Carolyn King, Hamilton, New Zealand

Conrado Tobón, Medellin, Colombia

Ivan Pedro Niveyro, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Daniel Renison, Cordoba, Argentina

Natalia Schroeder, Mendoza, Argentina

Javier Punteiri, Bariloche, Argentina

Grace de Haro, Bariloche, Argentina

Laura Malmierca, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Mercedes Ibanez, Santiago, Chile

Gustavo Iglesia, Bariloche, Argentina

Esteban Kowaljow, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Maria Menvielle, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Appendix C

Motion 083 tabled at the World Conservation Congress, at its session in Jeju, Republic of Korea, 6–15 September 2012.

M083

The conservation and protection of the world’s indigenous temperate grasslands

CONSIDERING that indigenous temperate grasslands provide a wide range of ecological services for life on Earth: as a source of food, water and fibre for human livelihoods and well-being; for cultural and biological diversity; and the sequestration of carbon, particularly in the face of global climate change;

ACKNOWLEDGING that indigenous temperate grasslands, that occur on every continent except Antarctica, have been modified by human activity to such a degree that very little remains in its natural state and that they are currently considered by the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) as one of the most at-risk ecosystems in the world;

CONFIRMING that indigenous temperate grasslands have a global level of protection of only 4–5%, the lowest of all terrestrial biomes, and that many new, large and ecologically viable protected areas need to be established to achieve conservation and protection on a landscape scale to reach the Aichi Biodiversity Target of 17%;

RECOGNIZING that the remaining areas of indigenous temperate grasslands continue to be threatened by inappropriate policies that lead to further loss through conversion and unsustainable land use and management practices;

ACKNOWLEDGING that many indigenous temperate grasslands play an important role in poverty and hunger alleviation and food production, and thus are not only strategic ecologically but are essential for contributing to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs);

REALIZING the importance of indigenous temperate grasslands to the life and cultural survival of mobile indigenous peoples and, in turn, the value of the accumulated knowledge and experience of traditional temperate grasslands users to their on-going conservation and management;

ACKNOWLEDGING that climate change seriously affects the biodiversity of, and the provision of goods and services by, indigenous temperate grasslands, thus having a negative impact on biodiversity and people that depend on these grasslands for sustaining their lives and livelihoods;

CONSCIOUS that developing and implementing effective incentives for good land stewardship, restoration and the sustainable management of indigenous temperate grasslands is essential to guaranteeing their long-term sustainable use as healthy and living environments; and

RECOGNIZING that the Temperate Grasslands Conservation Initiative (TGCI) of the WCPA Grasslands Specialist Group is focused on achieving the conservation and protection of the world’s indigenous temperate grasslands to meet the CBD targets and to contribute to the MDGs and the UNCCD, in coherence with the IUCN Drylands Programme, having achieved the following goals over the past decade:

• a. Assembled an international network of grasslands professionals to address the issues surrounding their conservation and protection;

• b. Improved communications on the subject through workshops, a newsletter, publications and website;

• c. Compiled a list of existing protected areas in the grasslands biome and identified priorities for future conservation and protection;

• d. Assessed the current state of knowledge on the economic value of intact indigenous temperate grasslands; and

• e. Observed an increase in the level of protection for this biome of 600%, from 0.69 to 5%, since the TGCI’s inception in 1996;

The World Conservation Congress, at its session in Jeju, Republic of Korea, 6–15 September 2012:

1. REQUESTS the Director General and the IUCN Commissions to:

• a. Acknowledge that indigenous temperate grasslands are one of the most imperilled and the least protected ecosystems and are under-represented in the world’s protected area system and, as a consequence, include this issue in the implementation of the Global and Regional Programmes

• b. Encourage governments, non-government organizations and private interests to protect indigenous temperate grasslands, with the aim of achieving Aichi Target 11, with a minimum of 10% by 2014, as proposed at the IVth World Congress on National Parks and Protected Areas in 1992 in Caracas, Venezuela

• c. Recognize that indigenous temperate grasslands require urgent and targeted action to protect, maintain and restore their biodiversity and the many valuable social, cultural, economic and ecological services they provide to sustain human life and well-being under the IUCN Programme 2013–2016; and

• d. Support the work of the Temperate Grasslands Conservation Initiative and the WCPA Grasslands Specialist Group;

2. REQUESTS relevant governments to:

• a. Increase the efforts to designate protected areas within indigenous temperate grassland regions, and integrate them into broader, multiple use landscapes; and

• b. Promote the sustainable use of indigenous temperate grasslands through the development of incentive mechanisms and certification schemes; and

3. REQUESTS international funding mechanisms, including the Global Environment Facility, to support a targeted increase in funds available for temperate grassland conservation, protection and sustainable management.