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An understanding of traditional ecological knowledge systems is increasingly acknowledged as a means of helping to develop global, regional and national, but locally relevant policies. Pastoralists often use lands that are unsuitable for crops due to biophysical and climatic extremities and variabilities. Forage plants of pastures are utilized by herding communities by applying locally relevant multigenerational knowledge. We analyzed the forage-related knowledge of pastoralists and herders by reviewing scientific papers and video documentaries on forage plants and indicators, their use in land management, and plant-livestock interactions. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with key knowledge holders in Iran, Mongolia, Kenya, Poland and Hungary. We found 35 indicators used by herders to describe forage species. The indicators described botanical features, livestock behavior during grazing, and the impact of plants on livestock condition and health. The indicators were used in context-specific management decisions, with a variety of objectives to optimize grazing. We identified ten global principles, including, among others, a livestock-centered perspective, close monitoring and targeted pasturing of various (preferred or avoided) forages, and the use of different livestock types and well-planned spatial movements at multiple scales to optimize the utilization of available plant resources. Although pastoralists vary greatly across the globe, the character and use of their traditional forage-related knowledge do seem to follow strikingly similar principles. Understanding these may help the local-to-global-level understanding of these locally specific systems, support bottom-up pastoral initiatives and discussions on sustainable land management, and help to develop locally relevant global and national policies. [Display omitted] • Pastoral traditional ecological knowledge is adapted to local conditions. • Globally, pastoral systems operate with strikingly similar forage-related knowledge. • We found livestock-eye perspectives, close monitoring and targeted use of forages. • Indicators focus on botanical features, livestock behavior and impact on livestock. • General principles can help develop relevant global/national land-use policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Residents of arid areas have developed their own adaptive strategies and adaptive capability to cope with an unstable environment that experiences frequent droughts. These strategies and this capability are based on traditional practices that developed from a profound understanding of their environment, but both the strategies and the capability have been affected by institutional change. Specifically, rangeland-use rights in the Alxa Left Banner were privatized in 1996, and the implementation of this policy decreased the ability of local herders to use traditional solutions. In this paper, we describe the change in their adaptive capability after implementation of this policy. Traditionally, local knowledge of the heterogeneity of resources and of key resources based on a deep understanding of the local environment, combined with tight social relationships, let herders use three traditional grazing strategies (seasonal migration, long-distance migration, and raising a diversity of livestock species) to mitigate the impacts of drought. But privatization has nearly eliminated their ability to rely on these traditional strategies and has weakened the forms of social and other capital that supported these strategies and provided a high adaptive capability. We argue that this institutional change has adversely affected traditional practices and undermined the adaptive capability of herders. Consequently, managers of the Alxa Left Banner must find ways to restore the various forms of capital to restore the herders' adaptive capability, particularly given the growing need to account for future climate change. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The implementation of rangeland biodiversity management strategies relies on the engagement and participation of key stakeholders, including local pastoralists (ranchers). Understanding pastoralists' knowledge of biodiversity, as well as their attitudes towards and perceptions of biodiversity management strategies, is fundamental for the development of efficacious rangeland management. This paper examines perceptions of biodiversity and land management strategies held by pastoralists in the Stony Plains region (SPR) of South Australia and reports on a survey, consisting of 45 questions, delivered to lessees and/or managers of pastoral leases within or on the edge of the SPR. Respondents generally agreed with prescribed land management strategies, but agreement did not mean that strategies were being implemented. The purchase of pastoral leases by government and/or conservation groups for biodiversity purposes was opposed strongly, which may present a barrier to collaborative land management. Pastoralists strongly agreed with several listed threats to biodiversity, but their feelings on climate-related threats were less strong. Attitudes to climate may have been influenced by above-average rainfall experienced during and preceding the survey period and by the climatic variability that characterises arid rangelands. Biodiversity conservation and the pastoral industry rely on collaborative rangeland management, non-bureaucratic communication, and an understanding among stakeholders of the attitudes and perceptions of other natural-resource users. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]