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*Introducing the message of pastoralist communities, a voice from the land*
<http://www.nyeleni.org/ccount/click.php?id=171>
*The new edition of the Nyéléni newsletter is online! *
More than half of the Earth’s surface is made up of grasslands and
rangelands. For thousands of years pastoralist communities have
domesticated animals and managed ecosystems in a sustainable way, producing
a diversity of cultures and food systems that are adapted and resilient.
Associated biodiversity has always co-existed with pastoralism.
Pastoralism is based on the extensive use of territory, sometimes
grasslands but also forests or cropland after harvests, marginal lands and
other spaces that very often are not suitable for agriculture. Pastoralism
is practiced by between 200 and 500 million people worldwide in highly
variable environments in nearly every country of the world from the
drylands of sub-Saharan Africa to the Arctic Circle.
Our way of life has existed since time immemorial, evolving together with
the landscape. But today pastoralism is threatened as never before by the
forced industrialization of livestock farming. We have to stop the loss of
grazing land, “land grabbing” and the restrictions on mobility that make it
impossible to maintain a viable pastoralist system. Currently we are
defining a possible campaign on Pastoralists Rights. Our identity and
culture is being eroded as policies fail to sufficiently include,
understand or even recognize the existence of pastoralism. Low economic
returns and a lack of recognition mean that young pastoralists in some
areas feel forced to leave our way of life or switch to more intensive
forms of farming. We are promoting a Youth Section of WAMIP, as for young
people it is often difficult to gain access to land.
Policy decisions are made with little or no consultation with local
communities. We are the traditional land users but we are systematically
excluded from decisions on land management, including the reintroduction or
management of wild predators or the designation of Nature Conservation
areas. Bureaucratic requirements, biased towards intensive livestock
production, impose a huge and unrealistic burden of paperwork on
pastoralists.
But all across Europe and the world, we are getting organized into
federations, building regional networks and gaining international
recognition from leading institutions. We strive to defend the interests of
local producers and to increase our political representation. We are
creating research centres, teaming up with scientific institutions,
training our young people and building our capacity.
WAMIP is an alliance of pastoralist communities and mobile indigenous
peoples throughout the world and our common space to preserve our forms of
life in pursuit of our livelihoods and cultural identity, to sustainably
manage common property resources, and to obtain full respect of our rights.
As an independent grassroot movement we work together with other civil
society organisations to influence policy makers at national, regional and
international level, and supranational bodies such as the UN and subsidiary
organisations like FAO, CBD etc.
We fight these trends and maintain our way of life by continuously
innovating and improving. We use local breeds to adapt to a changing
environment. We try to raise awareness among consumers and to sell directly
to them. We are using new media to promote our cultural traditions and
organize festive events. Some of us have negotiated contracts to prevent
fires, maintain heritage landscapes and provide other environmental
services. We are ambassadors of local cultural heritage, sustainable
productions and for Food Sovereignty. *European Shepherds Network *
<http://shepherdnet.eu/>
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--
Emanuela Russo
Coordinator of the international *Nyéléni Newsletter *
on Food Sovereignty
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