The Wilder Rangelands program

Rangelands face threats from climate and land-use change, including inappropriate climate change mitigation initiatives such as tree planting in grassy ecosystems. The marginalization and impoverishment of rangeland communities and their indigenous knowledge systems, and the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services, are additional major challenges. To address these issues, we started the Wilder Rangelands program, co-led by South African and European institutions, to increase our understanding of the climate, livelihood, and biodiversity challenges in the world's rangelands. With this increased understanding, we work with societal actors to develop nature-based opportunities for more sustainable rangeland use. At the basis of wilder rangelands lies the restoration of key natural processes and functional biodiversity in the world's grasslands, savannas and shrubland ecosystems and the collaboration of scientists, local communities and regional and international actors to co-create new rangeland use models that simultaneously mitigate the impacts of climate change, restore biodiversity, and improve both ecosystem functioning and livelihoods.