- More than 800 people convened in Nairobi, joined by over 5,500 online, to put rangelands and pastoralism at the center of climate, biodiversity and land action
- Leaders and decision makers from Africa and around the world, including pastoralist communities, researchers, governments, technology and AI experts and international organizations, shared practical ideas, innovations and next steps for protecting and managing rangelands ahead of the UN climate, biodiversity and desertification conferences
- Participants called for a shift in how rangelands are understood, financed and valued globally, recognizing them as vital ecosystems that support 2 billion livelihoods, store one-third of the world’s carbon and cover 54% of the Earth’s land surface
The hybrid conference GLF Africa 2026: Stewarding Our Rangelands concluded today after two days of high-level dialogue and global engagement to advance action for rangelands and pastoralist communities.
The 8th edition of the Global Landscapes Forum’s flagship event in Africa convened 133 organizations, over 5,500 participants online and more than 800 at the CIFOR-ICRAF Nairobi Campus in support of the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists.
Participants hailed from 135 countries, representing local and global governments, Indigenous Peoples, communities, research institutions, youth organizations, women’s groups, businesses, financiers and civil society.
Discussions reached over 42 million people globally, demonstrating growing international attention to the future of rangelands, pastoralists, biodiversity, food systems and climate resilience.
Across 67 sessions, experts called for a shift in the narrative around rangelands, underlining the need for data and information to urgently influence local and international policies as well as financiers.
“Rangelands must be positioned at the heart of global environmental action. They sit at the intersection between climate, biodiversity and land. They are central to climate adaptation mitigation, as well as biodiversity conservation, and they help in combating land degradation and drought.” – Yasmine Fouad, Executive Secretary, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
“Speaking as a pastoralist, land is not just a resource. Cattle are not just capital. Neither are we just labor. We are one interconnected system and depend on one another… Technology is not there to take the decision-making authority from communities. It can provide predictions; it can simplify processes and planning, but not decision making. That always has to be in the hands of pastoralists.” – Joshua Daniel Laizer, Co-Founder of TACCEI, Coordinator of GLFx Maasai Steppe and Regenerative Grazing Expert at AfriScout
“Africa cannot be a passive recipient of AI tools designed elsewhere for other realities. Africa must shape the data infrastructure, governance systems and ethical frameworks that reflect African landscapes, African knowledge and African ownership. That means data sovereignty, consent, benefit sharing and accountability. Above all, it means ensuring that the communities who have always stewarded these landscapes are the first to benefit from the intelligence now being built around them.” – Éliane Ubalijoro, CEO and Director General, CIFOR-ICRAF
Speakers debunked myths about pastoralist systems and rangelands, which are complex ecosystems that cover over half of the Earth’s land area with a diversity of biomes, such as deserts, shrublands, grasslands, savannahs, tundra, forests and woodlands.
“The myth about pastoral rangelands being degraded is rooted in ecological misunderstandings and reinforced by land use paradigms that equate ecological productivity with greenness, stability and sedentary agriculture… Economically and politically, it’s easier if the narrative is degradation.” – Igshaan Samuels, Rangeland Ecologist, Agriculture Research Council and Co-Chair of Global Coordinating Group of International Year of Rangelands & Pastoralists
“[The myth that] pastoralist commons are tragedies assumes that pastoral rangelands are open access. It assumes there are no systems, rules, coordination and accountability in place. In reality, Indigenous pastoral systems are governed by clear customary rules, Indigenous knowledge systems and collective decision making that govern these resources and ensure sustainability.” – Vivian Silole, Head of Strategic Partnerships, Collaborations, and Sustainability and Programmes Manager at IMPACTKenya
Government representatives pledged to join efforts to support rangeland ecosystem services, which support biodiversity, food security, livelihoods, culture, carbon storage and more.
“Governments, let’s strengthen our policies to support sustainable rangeland management. Partners, let’s scale up financing for restoration and resilience. Private sector, let us invest in sustainable value chains and support green growth opportunities. Research institutions, let us continue to offer evidence-based solutions. Communities, let us continue to lead as stewards of these landscapes.” – Deborah Mlongo Barasa, Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, Kenya
“A policy shift is needed to strengthen pastoral services while fully recognizing their environmental, economic and cultural value. With German development cooperation, we support the efforts of decision-makers at local, regional and global levels in doing so… and we work together to make investments in rangelands easier – for example, by systematically assessing their value and showing concrete investment cases. To this end, Germany also financed a global report on the economists of rangeland restoration, which will be launched at the upcoming UNCCD COP[17] in Mongolia.” – Johann Saathoff, Parliamentary State Secretary at German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development
“There’s a pipeline of opportunities – soil carbon projects, regenerative grazing, rangeland restoration, value-added pastoral value chains… one persistent barrier for investors is identifying, assessing and comparing credible, locally-led initiatives. Rio Changemakers, developed with the GLF and CIFOR-ICRAF, addresses this challenge directly. It provides trusted digital infrastructure to make high-integrity projects visible, comparable and investment-ready, connecting finance with real solutions on the ground.” – Serge Wilmes, Minister of Environment, Climate and Biodiversity, Luxembourg
Communities, youth and women were at the center of conversations, elevating powerful messages and avenues for action, leveraging traditional knowledge and technology, reinforcing the call for 2026, the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists.
“The pastoralist system was built on abundance. If someone owns 1,000 camels in Somalia, do you think that person is actually worried how they’re going to get their food? They’re not, because the camel is giving them milk, and if they need something else to eat, they can get meat, for example. So these are systems that are self-sustainable and also built on community and sovereignty.” – Fozia Noor, Director, Organization for Pastoralist Peace Development and Co-Founder, Somali Women Pastoralist Network
“At GLF Africa 2026, we made rangelands and pastoralism visible. What is not visible is too often not valued. And what is not valued is not financed, protected or prioritized in decision making… The challenge ahead is not only to continue the conversation but to transform visibility into recognition, recognition into rights and rights into lasting support for communities who steward these landscapes every day.” – Amos Amanubo, GLF Africa Regional Coordinator
The GLF’s Community and Action team concluded their participation at the conference, opening a call for the 2027 Restoration Stewards program and the GLFx chapter network, inviting young leaders and community-driven organizations to apply.
“By welcoming a new cohort of youth restoration practitioners and locally rooted organizations, we jointly create a space to work alongside each other, elevating community narratives, shaping learning programs, channeling and mobilizing financial resources, connecting committed partners, advocating for better practices and policies that sustain regenerative landscape management.” – Ana Yi Soto, GLFx Network Coordinator, GLF
Rewatch GLF Africa 2026 on demand and discover its key insights firsthand: bit.ly/GLFAfrica2026
Explore the conference in pictures on Flickr.