Grasslands of the World.pdf - Disasters and Conflicts - UNEP

Grassland perspectives 477
traditional, mobile ones; the latter accept more risk and may be able to move
to avoid severe forage or water shortages.
The studies show that there are wide ranges of stocking rates used or
advocated within areas. With up-to-date technology, most of the commercial
areas are now able to make more accurate assessment of forage availability
and grassland condition over wide areas and better estimate safe stocking rates
and monitor their effect. The Patagonia study shows that early stocking rates
were far too high and led to serious resource degradation . The Australian
study shows a surprisingly high estimate of degradation, with over half the
pastures of northern Australia either degraded or deteriorating. In other studies
on commercial systems , overstocking has not been a serious problem. The
eastern Africa n study quotes many conflicting estimates of carrying capacity
and grassland degradation. However, these have not been based on as detailed
work as those in commercial areas. In Mongolia , the traditional herding system
follows a four-season pattern, grazing different pastures at each season, thus
distributing the grazing load, with strategic short-distance moves, otor , to other
pasture with different categories of animals as part of the routine and also helping
to spread grazing and make best use of resources .
Political changes have affected the movement and management of livestock
in many herding lands. Decollectivization has affected vast areas of the grazing
lands of Central Asia and Russia . In Mongolia , collapse of rural infrastructure
and pumped water supplies have led to many areas remaining ungrazed, and
lack of security for winter grazing areas can restrict long migrations. In Central
Asia and the Russian steppe, family herds are now too small to warrant herding,
so livestock remain close to homesteads, while more distant pastures are
unused. In Turkey , urban drift has led to a scarcity of people willing to work
as shepherds – again, distant grasslands are underused. In Africa, civil security
and stock theft are problems.
The lean season
Feed availability is very unevenly distributed throughout the year in areas of
extensive grasslands, since these generally have a restricted growing season due
to rainfall or temperature. Managing stock through the lean season is a major
concern in all the systems described and both traditional and commercial
stock owners exercise skill and ingenuity in palliating seasonal feed scarcity.
Situations and strategies vary, as do the causes of the deficit and the types of
production.
In warm and tropical climates, the dry season is the main time of feed
deficit. The problem is not always a lack of standing vegetation , but that many
tropical grasslands, once mature, provide herbage of very low nutritive value.
In traditional systems , fodder conservation is almost unknown; stock graze as
best they can and lose weight through the dry season. In eastern and southern
Africa, pastoral groups usually remain within their own territory, although