Pastoral Communities’ Territories of Life in Asia; Tales of Coexistence of Nature and People

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Virtual workshop about Rangelands and Pastoralism in Asia

Rangelands and pastoralism are essential for millions of people around the world, providing or contributing to livelihoods, food security, and cultural identity. Around half of the Earth’s land surface is rangeland. As rangelands are often among the harshest of environments, many pastoral communities have adopted a seasonal migration lifestyle in their ancestral territories in order to increase their resilience to natural challenges and simultaneously to sustain natural resources. As the late Dr Taghi Farvar regularly noted, “the migratory practices of indigenous peoples are almost always de facto nature conservation strategies”.To acknowledge the vital roles of rangelands and pastoralism for human wellbeing and nature conservation and to support and bring greater recognition to the upcoming International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP) in 2026, a virtual workshop is scheduled for July 16, 2021, on Pastoral Communities’ Territories of Life in grasslands/rangelands across Eurasia.The workshop is co-hosted by the ICCA Consortium, the ICCA-GSI, GEF SGP (UNDP), and collaboration of Regional IYRP Support Groups (RISGs) for the IYRP 2026: East Asia, South Asia, Middle East, and Central Asia & Mongolia. The high-level objectives of this inaugural special event are to establish an Asia-wide Learning Network on rangelands and pastoralism, particularly in relation to local and indigenous pastoral communities’ Territories of Life, and to promote the IYRP 2026.The specific objectives of this one-day special event are the following:
To share experiences (best practices, key challenges) on rangelands and pastoral communities’ territories of life/ ICCAs from across Asia

To declare support for the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralism (IYRP)
To determine key topics, format, and timing for follow-up events and other actions
To commemorate the life, work and vision of Dr M. Taghi Farvar

During this event participants will contribute toward the planning of a series of workshops in Asia to further advance the above objectives and enhance enabling environments that promote and strengthen the role of territories of life / ICCAs in the conservation of nature at various levels.Dr M. Taghi Farvar (1942-2018) was a pioneer in bringing to light the collective conservation capacities of indigenous peoples and local communities. Throughout his life, he defended their collective rights over their territories, and sought to influence relevant policies at national and international levels. An account of Dr Farvar’s life and achievements is available at https://www.iccaconsortium.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Mohammad-Taghi-FARVAR-24-July-2018-1.pdf

The workshop will be held on July 16, 2021 from 16:00-20:00 ULAT (check local times here).

The workshop will be held on Zoom. To register, please follow this link: https://bit.ly/iccaiyrpThe deadline for the registration is 15 July 2021. 

For any queries, please write to [email protected]