Sustainable Rangeland Use and Restoration Across North America in the IYRP

We are halfway through the 2026 International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP), and key issues in rangelands and for pastoralists are being highlighted from the local to global levels. The month of June highlights Sustainable Rangeland Use and Restoration. This month IYRP has been celebrated through educational webinars and events around the world tied to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification’s “World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought”. The challenges faced by pastoralists, people who practice extensive livestock production and have high levels of mobility, and rangelands were at the forefront of these events, with sustainable pastoralism practices highlighted as a key need for healthy rangelands.

In North America, we know that good grazing makes sense. When ecologically appropriate grazing is applied to rangelands across Canada, the US and Mexico, it can help to control invasive species, ameliorate soils, reduce catastrophic wildfires, maintain biodiversity and help preserve pollinator populations that are on the brink of collapse. While good grazing makes sense, pastoralist livelihoods are at risk from conversion of rangelands to other land uses.

Across North America, rangelands face pressures for land conversion, such as building developments across California, conversion to row crop production in the Great Plains from Canada to Mexico, clearing of land for solar panels two times the area of Las Vegas in rangelands surrounding Las Vegas, and extreme land clearing for mining in Canada, the US and Mexico. 

On top of pressures from land conversion, rangelands are faced with many drivers of degradation, including spread of invasive species, alterations in wildfire patterns, and intense droughts and heatwaves. Invasive species, such as cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum, annual grass) in the Great Basin, Eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana, tree) in the Great Plains, buffelgrass (Cenchrus ciliaris, perennial grass) in the Sonoran Desert, and Bird Vetch (Vicia cracca, forb) in the North American Tundra, threaten the biodiversity and economic productivity of many rangeland ecosystems because of their ability to outcompete local native plants and alter disturbance regimes. Some of these species are the major causes of alterations in wildfire patterns because they change fuel loads and fire intensities. Intense droughts and heatwaves further exacerbate the challenge.

While the degradation of rangelands in North America can often seem like an overwhelming battle, many people across the three countries are coming up with ingenious ways of fighting back. Collective action is often key. For example, the Central Grasslands Roadmap Initiative has brought together over 250 ranchers, indigenous partners, government agencies, conservation groups and others to collectively preserve the working landscapes of the Great Plains with a shared voice and reduced land conversion. Numerous regional groups have come together in rangeland ecosystems across Canada, the US and Mexico to combat invasive species, recognizing that their neighbor’s problem could become their problem if they don’t work together to solve landscape scale issues.

Halting land conversion and degradation is critical and the first step toward improving rangeland health.Pastoralists, including many ranchers, serve as custodians of rangelands and their practices can help to conserve and restore many rangeland areas through techniques, such as increased rotations for grazing. However, some areas with extreme levels of degradation require more than just passive restoration. They require active restoration paired with appropriate land management. 

Recognizing the importance of rangelands through the IYRP is highlighting the need to conserve and restore rangelands.  As we move through this year and beyond, hopefully, we can continue to build upon the momentum that has been generated with IYRP.