Regional Dialogues on Sustainable Rangelands and Pastoralism brought together policymakers, practitioners and pastoralist leaders from Asia and the Arab region, Africa, and Latin America & the Caribbean to highlight why rangelands matter and how the COP16 decision (Decision 29/COP.16) and the upcoming COP17 and International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP 2026) can catalyze action. Across all three webinars, speakers underscored that rangelands are critical and regenerative food systems, major carbon sinks and biodiversity reservoirs, as well as cultural landscapes and livelihoods for millions of pastoralists. At the same time, they remain chronically undervalued, under‑assessed and under‑financed, leading to degradation, loss of resilience, and increased vulnerability of communities.
A core theme cutting across the series was the need to rethink investment in rangelands: away from narrow, direct land investments that can drive conversion and degradation, and towards people‑centred, community‑based strategies that strengthen pastoral governance, secure mobility and rights, and support value chains and ecosystem services. Speakers highlighted emerging global frameworks – including the UNCCD Rangelands Flagship Initiative – as key levers to mobilize and better target public and private finance, with ambitious funding goals proposed in the run‑up to COP17. Participants were invited to bring forward concrete project ideas, contribute to pipelines for restoration and sustainable management, and help close major knowledge and policy gaps.
Regionally, the dialogues showcased rich case studies and perspectives. In Asia and the Arab region, women’s cooperatives and pastoral alliances emphasized the leading role of pastoral women in biodiversity conservation, traditional knowledge and local governance, while country examples from Uzbekistan illustrated that rangeland, as the dominant land use type, is integrated into its national LDN targets. In Africa, speakers highlighted the economic engine role of rangelands and their climate and cultural importance, while also pointing to land governance challenges, large‑scale tree‑planting and other pressures that risk marginalizing pastoral systems. Country experiences from Kenya, Ethiopia and Botswana stressed the need for harmonized transboundary governance, integrated land‑use planning, innovative finance and alignment between climate, biodiversity and land restoration goals. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the focus was on pastoralism’s contribution to food systems, gender‑responsive land governance, sustainable livestock initiatives, and new regional platforms to connect work on grasslands and savannas, with examples from Brazil, Paraguay, Mexico and regional IYRP networks.
Across all three regions, several common messages emerged. First, parties are expected to follow up on COP16 commitments by reporting on rangeland protection, conservation and restoration at COP17, making these dialogues a timely step in preparing robust regional inputs. Second, meaningful participation of pastoralists, Indigenous Peoples and local communities – including women and youth – was highlighted as essential from the outset of any investment, policy or planning process. Third, speakers called for building stronger regional knowledge communities and platforms to continue exchanging experiences (a regional knowledge platform for Latin America was recently launched by WWF and IUCN), coordinating action, and supporting countries to design and finance rangeland solutions at scale. The series concluded with an invitation to stay engaged through IUCN Engage and the Global Grasslands and Savannahs Dialogue Platform, to use the resources, case studies and tools shared in the webinars to inform national strategies, project pipelines and negotiations on rangelands in the lead‑up to COP17 and throughout IYRP 2026. We also prepared a Resource Hub, containing Key Tools, Reports & Platforms for COP17 & IYRP 2026.
A final webinar on Integrating Rangeland and Pastoralist Solutions into Global Environmental Frameworks will be held on 31 March – register here.
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