P.j.Hickox, Shutterstock
When it comes to storing carbon, alpine peatlands are powerhouses. But feral horse grazing and trampling tips the carbon balance in the other direction. We need to protect and restore our peatlands.
Rangelands provide a wealth of ecosystem services and support rural economies while harbouring native biodiversity.
Courtesy Rauri Alcock
Planting millions of trees in natural grassland is largely ineffective in the battle against global warming because it adds little or no additional carbon storage.
Cattle are major producers of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano
Cattle are major producers of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. But there are methods that can reduce their climate impact – if ranchers have incentive to use them.
Solar panels shade grassland at Jack’s Solar Garden, an agrovoltaic farm in Longmont, Colo.
Matthew Sturchio
Solar development isn’t always good for the land, but pairing it with agriculture can produce multiple benefits.
Tyhume Valley in Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Wonga Masiza
Satellite images and community perceptions combine to give a fuller picture of land use changes.
Fire, in its proper place, is a renewing force — one that can reduce the probability of catastrophic fire.
(Angie Li)
Building a culture where fire is respected rather than feared is essential to maintain resilient landscapes.
Herder Katrina Schwartz with her goats.
Photo: Conservation International
Shepherding livestock may be more effective protection than killing predators.
A herder grazes cattle alongside wildlife in Samburu, Kenya.
Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images
Conservation that places less emphasis on who may or may not use a piece of land could result in better outcomes for people and wildlife.
A woman feeding Zebu cows in a village in Kenya.
Brittak / Getty Images
Improving the diets of livestock in Africa provides a rapid pathway to increasing nutrition for people.
Sandra Standbridge/Shutterstock
Plus, why you should always remove grass cuttings from your lawn.
A herd of cows returning from a drinking hole in Amboseli, Kenya.
Buena Vista Images/GettyImages
African livestock keepers need help: without proactive interventions, increasing temperatures will reduce meat and milk production.
A herd of elephants in Mali.
Carlton Ward Jr
Elephants avoided areas where others were poached.
Erik Mandre/Shutterstock.com
A decade of no grazing has demonstrated positive effects on the richness of bird species.
Guanacos eke out a harsh existence in the mountains of central Chile.
Solange Vargas
As Chile’s central mountain region warms, guanacos are wandering into trouble.
Sonoma County, California hired this herd of sheep from Sweetgrass Grazing to reduce invasive plants and flammable fuels and make room for native plants on protected land.
Sonoma Open Space
A new generation of ranchers is exploring sustainable ways to raise cattle, sheep and goats in California. Some are grazing herds on fire-prone lands, reducing wildfire risks and improving soils.
Nature and technology can combine to help farms of the future nourish the earth and its inhabitants.
SimplyDay/Shutterstock
We’re not powerless to change the future of food. Nature and technology can combine to nourish both the earth and its inhabitants.
Grazing from kangaroos affects vulnerable native species.
Tom Hunt
Public opposition to kangaroo culls shouldn’t overrule the needs of thousands of other native species in national parks.
Harney County, Ore., sign.
Wikimedia/Ken Lund
Rural Westerners have been stereotyped as angry ranchers who hate government. But for every gun-wielding militia member, there are many others who work collaboratively to protect what they value.
A farmer plows a dry and dusty cotton field near Phoenix, Ariz., while a drought affects the Southwest.
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Desertification is a problem of global proportions. If action isn’t taken now, it will accelerate and fuel further migration and conflict.
The travelling stock routes are a precious national resource.
Australia’s iconic stock routes are now public land, used for everything from conservation to recreation. A government review may change that.