Grassland degradation has been caused by overgrazing in Inner Mongolia. Previous studies revealed the effect of grazing pressure on the vegetation and soil. However, that of different land use types (i.e., grazing and mowing) has not been fully understood, though land use has been dramatically changed from grazing to mowing after land contract system was introduced in 1996. The objective of this study, therefore, was to evaluate that effect on the vegetation and soil.

The recent increase in the number of tourists has raised serious concerns about grassland degradation by tourism activities in Inner Mongolia. Thus, we evaluated the effects of tourism activities on the vegetation and soil in Hulunbuir grassland. We identified all the plant species, measured the number and height of plants and plant coverage rate, calculated species diversity, and estimated above-ground biomass in the used plot and the non-use plot. We also examined soil hardness, and soil physical and chemical properties in both plots.

Most mountain pastures in Italy are underutilized or even abandoned due to urbanization, low in - comes, limited social opportunities for rural families. A three years research was done on the rehabilitation of some pastures in two farms of North-Western Tuscany, central Italy.

The paper aims to present changes and current dynamics of mountainous pastoral systems in Southern Albania (Korca region) and to identify origin-based quality products as a strategy for sustainable rural development. According to the historical data (available or reconstructed through interviews), rapid and unregulated changes in mountainous productive systems within the post-communism transition threaten local natural resources and cultural landscapes.

Mediterranean landscapes have been formed through human activity for millennia, which resulted in a particularly rich and rare biodiversity. Among these activities grazing is the most beneficial on biodiversity. However, the sheep and goat sector is rapidly transforming into sedentary-housed types and pastoral land is abandoned. The Greek example is presented and a range of policies are suggested to halt this trend and conserve pastoral land biodiversity in Mediterranean

Tetra Tech’s land tenure and property rights experts examine how weak land and resource governance can fuel drivers of violent extremism. With a focus on the African Sahel, this new issue brief finds this dynamic is especially prevalent when land and resource governance challenges are coupled with environmental disruptions, resource scarcity, or migration.

In Tanzania, ongoing land insecurity is a structural cause of food insecurity particularly for
pastoralists, agro-pastoralists and small-scale crop farmers leading to land use conflicts,
compromised access to resources including grazing and water and rangeland degradation.
Land tenure security and management can be improved through village land use planning (VLUP)
and land certification – namely the issuing of certificates of customary rights of occupancy
(CCROs). In situations where villages share resources such as grazing areas and water, joint village

In pastoral societies women face many challenges. Some describe these as a ‘double burden’ –
that is, as pastoralists and as women. However, pastoral women may obtain a significant degree
of protection from customary law even if customary institutions are male-dominated. In periods
of change (economic, social, political), this protection may be lost, and without protection from
statutory laws, women are in danger of “falling between two stools” (Adoko and Levine 2009). A

China has a rich resource of native sheep (Ovis aries) breeds associated with historical movements of several nomadic societies. However, the history of sheep and the associated nomadic societies in ancient China remains poorly understood. Here, we studied the genomic diversity of Chinese sheep using genome-wide SNPs, mitochondrial and Y-chromosomal variations in > 1,000 modern samples.