Mobile Grazing sub-system on Communal Areas in Temperate Zones and Tropical Highlands - LGT1

This sub-system, associated with different level of aridity, is found in continental regions with cold winters, in upland meadows, as well as in mediterranean regions with warm summers. The vegetation of the steppes is the base of the pasture. Extensive grazing systems have been developed, often over a long period time, in relation to the low production of the rangelands or the strictly seasonal plant growth. For environmental reasons, large areas are not suitable for agriculture but allow extensive livestock farming.

Rangelands for common access are widely present in North Africa, Middle East (Turkey, Iran), Central Asia (Siberia, Central Asian Republics, Mongolia, North and North-West China) and the mountains of Africa and America. Societies of pastoralists have developed extensive pastoral practices adapted to local constraints. The low productivity of pastures and their seasonal availability explain the custom of mobility and transhumance.

The increase in of livestock population occurring in such pastoral areas increases the risk of overgrazing. Politics of sedentarization have generally locally increased the effects of overgrazing in the areas of settlement and developed the impact of agriculture and its effects on the environment.

The main environmental risks of livestock in this sub-system are different components of desertification : degradation of soil, of vegetation and plant communities, of wildlife habitats. On the other hand, pastoralism in such environments contributes to maintaining an open pastoral landscape, preserving ecosystems with native plants and wildlife.

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