Rangeland Stewardship & Global Standards Session at Natural Fibre Connect 2024
ITALY, 19 SEPTEMBER 2024 - This afternoon, the Natural Fibre Connect (NFC) conference in Biella hosted a session on Rangeland Stewardship & Global Standards that included an expert panel of speakers to discuss key topics such as desertification, overgrazing, animal welfare, livestock value chains and so much more.
Panel of Expert Speakers:
Highlights of the session included an introductory video from Louise Baker, Managing Director of the Global Mechanism for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), that was thought-provoking, setting the tone perfectly for discussions centred around the world's rangelands and pastoralists.
Una Jones presented the history and background of the Rangeland Stewardship Council (RSC), acknowledging the initiative’s key stakeholders and partners who have supported its development. Una said, “We've heard from Gunter [Pauli - a previous speaker] how important the value of ecosystem services across rangelands and wider sources of commodities – what we embody here is collaboration, network-of-network, and working together.” When presenting the RSC’s aims and objectives around the Global Rangeland Standard, Una said, "It’s supported by an animal welfare species-level standard and commodity standard, however, globally there are many different animal health/welfare standards out there, there are different commodity standards, and we are looking to bring mutual agreements across those standards and bring better local ownership that suits in that environment and works in that environment - bringing this standard together.”
Derek Baker shared more about the STELARR (Sustainable Investments for Large-Scale Rangeland Restoration) Project, providing details about livestock value chains and their relation to supporting and improving the world’s rangelands. Regarding the aims of the STELARR Project, Derek said, “We are in a lot of trouble with our rangelands, a lot of them are degrading, and this project wants to get on the front foot to start winding that back.” When presenting how we can generate the benefits available to the private sector, Derek said, “There are examples of luxury brands investing heavily in the restoration of endangered species, there are plenty of examples of luxury brands investing in biodiversity and in management change, but what we are trying to do is get that into a systematic programme and do it at scale.”
After these initial presentations, Una and Derek were joined by Paul Littlefair and Ian Whiteford for an engaging panel discussion. When discussing the importance of animal welfare in the context of global standards, Paul emphasised that “What we do when things go wrong is really important and having systems in place to handle that.”, especially when considering the expectations of a product’s end consumer. Ian Whiteford, an expert in sustainable supply chains, said when discussing the topic of rangeland management, “These things are live issues and that spend decisions make a difference - it is not just about jobs but it is about where people live, traditions, history and whole families.”
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Una touched on the devastation that hit Mongolia last winter, called Dzud, “This year, for example, we had 7 million livestock dying, the impact of that for herder communities is really catastrophic - for Mongolia 20% of the cashmere is down this year and 20% last year as well”, showcasing the effects that climate change is having on the world’s rangelands and herding communities. Una emphasised, “This [disaster] is happening more and more often, we used to have it once in a decade, it is happening now every few years – I believe that our approach and by collaborating together building systems is going to be really important.” Derek added that, regarding the effects of climate change, “There are a lot of arguments for investments in rangelands for improved drought management.”
The session was concluded on a poignant note by Paul, who said, “The stories of the provenance of these countries where the products are being produced are absolutely the most important selling point – quality is obviously the most important – but the story is absolutely vital and that is only going to become more and more important as consumers around the world become more demanding and more sophisticated about the knowledge and information they want about where things come from and how they were made.”
To learn more about the Rangeland Stewardship Council and the initiative's aims and objectives, please visit rangelandstewardship.org and get involved.
Acknowledgements
This session was organised by the Rangeland Stewardship Council (RSC) and Sustainable Fibre Alliance (SFA) with the support of the UNCCD and the GEF-funded STELARR (Sustainable Investments for Large-Scale Rangeland Restoration) Project, which is implemented by IUCN and executed by ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute) and partners.