Land use & ecosystems
Rangeland
Definition
Rangelands are lands on which the natural vegetation is predominantly grasses, grass-like plants, forbs, or shrubs, managed principally through grazing by livestock and wild animals. The category includes natural grasslands, savannas, shrublands, wetlands, tundra, and deserts; together these constitute about 54% of Earth's land cover, account for one-sixth of global food production, and hold nearly a third of the planet's carbon reservoir, with up to half degraded according to UNCCD.
References
definition, extent, degradation
Overview
What it means
Rangelands support pastoralist communities numbering an estimated half a billion people, yet their degradation — from conversion to cropland, overgrazing, abandonment, and climate change — proceeds with little public attention. Their management is central to land degradation neutrality, carbon storage, and pastoralist livelihoods.
How it is used
The term structures UNCCD reporting, sustainable pastoralism policy, and grazing-management and restoration programmes; it distinguishes extensively grazed natural vegetation from sown pasture and cropland.
Why it matters
The world's largest land-cover type is also one of its most overlooked; rangeland health is a frontline of food security, carbon, and dryland biodiversity. **Note:** Drafted from workbook row 1253 (Grazing land / pasture / rangeland), which the workbook flagged for specialist review; the UNCCD definition provides a sufficient anchor.