The world’s plains are under threat, warns the UN

The UN is concerned about the state of the world’s plains. According to a report released Tuesday, at least a quarter of these lands are degraded. More than 2 billion people depend on these ecosystems, which provide food and can capture carbon.

This report is the most recent published by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

Current estimates indicate that at least 25% of the plains are degraded.notes the main author of the text, Pedro Herrera, a Spanish specialist in land management. But most researchers agree that this is probably an underestimated number, that it is probably 35 or even 50%.

These ecosystems – from the African savannah to the Mongolian steppes, including the Canadian prairies – are threatened, both by desertification which is gaining ground and by overexploitation of land.

According to Pedro Herrera, grasslands throughout the world are key ecosystems for food security, for the preservation of biodiversity and for combating climate change. More than 2 billion people depend on it to survive, and they are among the most marginalized people in societynotes the researcher.

However, even if grasslands make up large parts of the world’s continents, they are little considered by decision-makers, says Pedro Herrera. When we think of biodiversity and carbon sinks, we think of forests. But we cannot neglect half of the earth’s surfacehe said.

The main author of the report says he is particularly concerned about the fate of arid lands – those of Central Asia, such as China or Mongolia, the Brazilian Cerrado or even the Sahel. These are probably the most fragile placesnotes Pedro Herrera.

A Canadian solution

To reverse the trend, researchers cite a Canadian example in particular: living laboratories, where scientists work in collaboration with people who know the plains well, such as farmers or Indigenous people.

The idea: that practical knowledge enters into dialogue with science.

A researcher for years at Agriculture Canada, Mike Schellenberg now collaborates with the organization Living Lab Central Prairiesin Saskatoon. The idea of ​​living laboratories is to put producers forward and ask them what they see on their land., explains the scientist. These exchanges make it possible to better direct research and benefit from the knowledge of those who take care of these lands.

According to him, in Canada as in the United States, what threatens the plains at the moment is resource exploitation. In recent years, we have noticed a loss of diversity in the soil, which is a key factor in sequestering more carbon., says Mike Schellenberg. Some things can be restored, but in the case of the land itself, the process can take many years, he said.

According to the report, further integrating the plains and those who know them in the fight against climate change could make it possible to store more carbon and preserve these ecosystems.