Wild Rangelands

Rangeland ecosystems which include unimproved grasslands, shrublands, savannas and semi-deserts, support half of the world’s livestock, while also providing habitats for some of the most charismatic of wildlife species. This book examines the pressures on rangeland ecosystems worldwide from human land use, over-hunting, and subsistence and commercial farming of livestock and crops. Leading experts have pooled their experiences from all continents to cover the ecological, sociological, political, veterinary, and economic aspects of rangeland management today. This book provides practitioners and students of rangeland management and wildland conservation with a diversity of perspectives on a central question: can rangelands be wildlands?

• The first book to examine rangelands from a conservation perspective
• Emphasizes the balance between the needs of people and livestock, and wildlife
• Written by an international team of experts covering all geographical regions
• Examines ecological, sociological, political, veterinary, and economic aspects of rangeland management and wildland conservation, providing a diversity of perspectives not seen before in a single volume

Contributors vii

Preface xv

Foreword by Anthony R.E. Sinclair and George B. Schaller xix

1. Introduction: A Review of Rangeland Conservation Issues in an Uncertain Future 1
Monica L. Wrobel and Kent H. Redford

Part I Thematic Reviews 13

2. Riding the Rangelands Piggyback: A Resilience Approach to Conservation Management 15
Brian Walker

3. Addressing the Mismatches between Livestock Production and Wildlife Conservation across Spatio-temporal Scales and Institutional Levels 30
Johan T. du Toit

4. Rangeland Conservation and Shrub Encroachment: New Perspectives on an Old Problem 53
Steven R. Archer

5. Health and Disease in Wild Rangelands 98
Richard Kock, Mike Kock, Sarah Cleaveland and Gavin Thomson

6. Contemporary Views of Human–Carnivore Conflicts on Wild Rangelands 129
Alexandra Zimmermann, Nick Baker, Chloe Inskip, John D.C. Linnell, Silvio Marchini, John Odden, Gregory Rasmussen and Adrian Treves

7. Financial Incentives for Rangeland Conservation: Addressing the ‘Show-Us-the-Money’ Challenge 152
Ray Victurine and Charles Curtin

Part II Case Studies 189

8. Biodiversity Conservation in Australian Tropical Rangelands 191
Stephen T. Garnett, John C.Z. Woinarski, Gabriel M. Crowley and Alex S. Kutt

9. Livestock Grazing and Wildlife Conservation in the American West: Historical, Policy and Conservation Biology Perspectives 235
Thomas L. Fleischner

10. Guanaco Management in Patagonian Rangelands: A Conservation Opportunity on the Brink of Collapse 266
Ricardo Baldi, Andrés Novaro, Martín Funes, Susan Walker, Pablo Ferrando, Mauricio Failla and Pablo Carmanchahi

11. Multiple Use of Trans-Himalayan Rangelands: Reconciling Human Livelihoods with Wildlife Conservation 291
Charudutt Mishra, Sumanta Bagchi, Tsewang Namgail and Yash Veer Bhatnagar

12. Herders and Hunters in a Transitional Economy: The Challenge of Wildlife and Rangeland Management in Post-socialist Mongolia 312
Katie M. Scharf, María E. Fernández-Giménez, Batjav Batbuyan and Sumiya Enkhbold

13. Social and Economic Challenges for Conservation in East African Rangelands: Land use, Livelihoods and Wildlife Change in Maasailand 340
Katherine Homewood and D. Michael Thompson

14. The Future for Wildlife on Kenya’s Rangelands: An Economic Perspective 367
Michael Norton-Griffiths and Mohammed Y. Said

15. Synthesis: Local and Global Solutions to the Challenge of Keeping Rangelands Wild 393
James C. Deutsch

Index 403

"That said, ‘Wild rangelands' provides an extensive and up-to-date treatment of challenges and issues for rangeland conservation, and the plight of those who rely on livestock for livelihoods is strongly drawn into both the case studies and the more conceptual chapters. Hence, ‘Wild rangelands' will provide an informative and useful volume from a variety of perspectives." (Pastoralism: Research, Policy & Practice, 2011)

"In conclusion, Wild Rangelands is a must-read for researchers, conservationists and ranchers alike and should be included in university wildlife biology teaching curricula to facilitate a stronger grounding of biology graduates in the broader social issues affecting conservation today." (African Journal of Range and Forage Science, 2011)

Johan T. du Toit is a professor at Utah State University, where he is the Head of the Department of Wildland Resources. He is especially interested in the ecology of large mammals and the conservation of terrestrial ecosystems through the fusion of science and management.

Richard Kock is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and specialist in wildlife medicine. He has worked with a focus on wildlife health and conservation, livestock and mixed wildlife/livestock communities and in rangelands throughout his career. He has worked for the Zoological Society of London for 26 years and now works in the African and South Asian region looking at wildlife health programmes in wild rangelands.

James Deutsch directs the Africa Program of the Wildlife Conservation Society, with over a thousand staff working to save globally important landscapes and species in twelve African countries. James has lectured at the University of East Anglia and Imperial College, helped found the Tropical Biology Association and AIDS Treatment Project, ran Crusaid, and chairs Aidspan.

Rangelands, which include unimproved grasslands, shrublands, savannas and semi-deserts, and represent almost half of the terrestrial surface of the Earth, are defined by their use by people as grazing lands for extensive livestock production. However, these ecosystems also constitute a major share of global biodiversity, include some of the most charismatic landscapes and species on our planet, and supply essential ecosystem goods and services to many millions of people who live outside of the global economy. Reconciling livestock production with wildlife conservation is thus a key requirement of sustainable development, but the obstacles are immense. The contributors to this book include leading experts who have pooled their experiences from all continents to cover the ecological, sociological, political, veterinary, and economic aspects of the situation as it exists today. This is to provide practitioners, and students of rangeland management and wildland conservation with a diversity of perspectives on a central question: can rangelands be wildlands?