Drylands, pastoralism and soil carbon review

The FAO has produced a new review of the potential for dryland pastoral systems to adapt to and mitigate climate change through soil carbon sequestration: "Review of evidence on drylands pastoral systems and climate change Implications and opportunities for mitigation and adaptation." Land and water discussion paper 8, FAO, 2010.

Rangelands are estimated to store up to 30 percent of the world's soil carbon in addition to the substantial amount of above-ground carbon stored in trees, bushes, shrubs and grasses (White, et al., 2000; Grace, et al., 2006). In view of the vast extent of grasslands and rangelands and the degraded nature of large areas of these systems, the potential to sequester carbon through improved management is significant. Such management practices include restoring organic matter to soils, reducing erosion, and decreasing losses resulting from burning and overgrazing. The capacity to sequester carbon depends on the climatic zone, the past history and status of the land resources such as soil and vegetation, and the opportunities available to change management practices (management techniques, competition with other land uses, economic trade-offs, land tenure, social organization, incentives and political will).