Rangelands

Sustaining billions of people every day

Photo credit: Southern Plains Land Trust – Just 150 years ago, immense herds of bison roamed the Southern Plains. Protecting and restoring America’s Serengeti gives wildlife a chance to thrive again, image by Karen Voepel

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Rangelands resources

Resources produced by the Rangelands Initiative on ‘The Ecological Uplift’. Rewilding can restitute the ecological processes that make rangeland ecosystems functional.

The Ecological Uplift Global Rewilding Alliance

The Ecological Uplift – The Crucial Role of Wild Animals in Rangeland Ecosystems

Rangelands – including grasslands, tundra, savannah, woodlands and deserts – are increasingly degraded. Rewilding rangelands can deliver climate, nature and social resilience. This briefing focuses on the contribution wild animals make to the resilience of rangelands worldwide.

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Assessing the contribution of land and water management approaches to sustainable land management and achieving land degradation neutrality

Led by the UN University in Bonn, Germany, the Global Rewilding Alliance Secretariat contributed to evaluating seven new land and water management approaches, including rewilding, for their potential to support the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The assessment focused on ecosystem health, food security, human well-being, and socio-economic outcomes. This work helps raise the visibility of the relevance of rangelands by highlighting the role of wildlife in sustainable rangeland management.

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International Year on Rangelands and Pastoralism – Global Rewilding Alliance contributions

This document presents the concept of “Ecological Uplift” through rewilding in rangeland ecosystems. Rewilding is a science-based approach to restore species diversity, natural processes, and ecosystem resilience, supporting pastoralist livelihoods, global ecosystem health, and sustainable land management.

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Rewilding Rangelands Initiative thumbnail

The Rewilding Rangelands Initiative

Rewilding offers a clear path toward restoring ecological functionality in grassy ecosystems. Translating that path into durable change requires coordinated effort across disciplines, sectors, and geographies. The Rewilding Rangelands Initiative advances that work through two complementary strategies: strengthening the conditions for change and advancing rewilding in practice.

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Megafauna, traits, and nativeness

Slides from a presentation by Dr. Erick Lundgren.

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Building Community Resilience Through Wildlife Conservancies

Slides from a presentation by the Enonkishu Conservancy.

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Conserving & restoring Kazakhstan‘s rangelands

Slides from a presentation by the Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative.

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Rangelands are extensive ecosystems that provide biodiversity and support rural livelihoods, yet they are threatened by land degradation, climate change, and land conversion. Their importance cannot be overstated in our collective pursuit of sustainable development and planetary stability; however, they have long been under-appreciated in global environmental discourse.

Ibrahim Thiaw – UNCCD Executive Secretary, Preface to Global Land Outlook: Thematic Report on Rangelands and Pastoralists

Rewilding Rangelands

For the livelihood of billions of people

%

of Earth’s landmass is made from Rangelands, from the Arctic to the tropics

people rely on pastoralism for their livelihoods

%

of the North American tallgrass prairies in decline due to heavy conversion to agriculture

%

of the South American Cerrado in decline from heavy conversion to agriculture

%

of global rangelands used for livestock production, plus additional land used for solar energy, wind energy, and infrastructure

Alliance Partners in the GRA, many of which work with Rangelands

Photo credit: Arjen Boerman – FREE Nature

Healthy Rangelands provide vital benefits

Rangelands, where people and wild animals work together, boost the resilience and health of ecosystems. Key areas of impact include:

1. Ecological functioning

Rangelands are vast, natural grasslands, savannas, shrublands, tundra, and deserts shaped by native grazing animals. These living systems regulate water, store carbon, produce food, and carry deep cultural meaning for pastoralist communities.

2. Water

Wild and wild-like animals improve water infiltration and reduce flood risks by opening vegetation, shaping soil structure, and creating natural water pathways. Their movement keeps water cycling, filtering, and flowing across the landscape.

3. Climate

Rangelands store around 12% of the world’s terrestrial carbon, most of it locked safely in soils. Restoring native wildlife and ecological processes increases carbon drawdown and builds long-term climate resilience.

4. Soil formation & protection

Grazing, trampling, and nutrient deposition by large herbivores build fertile, carbon-rich soils. By stimulating deeper root growth and preventing erosion, wildlife strengthen productivity and climate stability from the ground up.

5. Livelihoods

Rangelands support roughly half of the world’s livestock and sustain pastoralist communities. Wild animals enhance soil fertility and forage quality, improving grazing systems and strengthening food security.

6. Biodiversity

Two-thirds of global biodiversity hotspots include rangelands. Reintroducing keystone species and restoring natural grazing dynamics helps reverse degradation and bring these ecosystems back to life.

7. Maintaining open grassland structure

Large herbivores prevent grasslands from becoming overrun by shrubs and trees. By maintaining open landscapes, they protect grassland biodiversity and preserve the ecosystem’s natural carbon balance.

8. Regulating fire risk

By consuming grasses and dry vegetation, grazing animals reduce the buildup of dry plants and grasses that fuel wildfires. This lowers the intensity and spread of wildfires while maintaining healthy ecosystem cycles.

What are Rangelands?

Rangelands cover more than 50% of the Earth’s landmass and stretch from the Arctic to the tropics. They include a wide spectrum of open ecosystems, such as grasslands, savannas, tundra, shrublands, woodlands, and deserts, which are characterized by native herbaceous or shrubby vegetation that is grazed by livestock or wild animals.

These extensive ecosystems provide biodiversity and support rural livelihoods, yet they are threatened by land degradation, climate change, and land conversion. Their importance cannot be overstated in our collective pursuit of sustainable development and planetary stability; however, they have long been under-appreciated in global environmental discourse.

Rangelands play a critical role in mitigating global climate change and in securing the livelihoods of billions of people around the world by providing essential products and services for society.

Global Rewilding Alliance partners are taking action at local and national levels around the world to highlight the critical role of rangelands and the impact wildlife plays in maintaining their ecological functions.

Rewilding helps safeguard these vital ecosystems and the lives that depend on them.