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Sharifian A, Gantuya B, Wario HT, Kotowski MA, Barani H, Manzano P, Krätli S, Babai D, Biró M, Sáfián L, Erdenetsogt J, Qabel QM, Molnár Z. Global principles in local traditional knowledge: A review of forage plant-livestock-herder interactions. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2023; 328:116966. [PMID: 36521222 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116966] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2022] [Revised: 10/24/2022] [Accepted: 12/01/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abolfazl Sharifian
- Department of Rangeland and Watershed Management, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, 49138-15749, Gorgan, Iran; Centre for Ecological Research, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Vácrátót, Hungary; Global Change and Conservation Lab, Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Program, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, PL 65, FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Batdelger Gantuya
- Centre for Ecological Research, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Vácrátót, Hungary; Botanic Garden and Research Institute, Mongolian Academy of Science, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Hussein T Wario
- Center for Research and Development in Drylands, Marsabit, Kenya
| | - Marcin Andrzej Kotowski
- Botanical Garden Center for Biological Diversity Conservation in Powsin, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Hossein Barani
- Department of Rangeland and Watershed Management, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, 49138-15749, Gorgan, Iran
| | - Pablo Manzano
- Global Change and Conservation Lab, Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Program, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, PL 65, FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland; Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3), 48940, Leioa, Spain; Ikerbasque - Basque Foundation of Science, Euskadi Plaza, 5, E-48009, Bilbao, Spain
| | - Saverio Krätli
- German Institute for Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture, Transdisciplinary and Social-Ecological Landuse Research (DITSL), Witzenhausen, Germany
| | - Dániel Babai
- Institute of Ethnology, Research Centre for the Humanities, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Marianna Biró
- Centre for Ecological Research, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Vácrátót, Hungary
| | - László Sáfián
- Traditional Hungarian Shepherd, Hajdúsámson, Hungary
| | | | | | - Zsolt Molnár
- Centre for Ecological Research, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Vácrátót, Hungary
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Samuels MI, Allsopp N, Hoffman MT. Stocking density and distribution in relation to vegetation in a biodiverse semi-arid pastoral system in South Africa. RANGELAND JOURNAL 2022. [DOI: 10.1071/rj21046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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Gibson D, Ellis W. Human and plant interfaces: relationality, knowledge and practices. ANTHROPOLOGY SOUTHERN AFRICA 2018. [DOI: 10.1080/23323256.2018.1483735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Diana Gibson
- Department of Anthropology and Sociology, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa
| | - William Ellis
- Department of Anthropology and Sociology, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa
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