Demise of Rangelands 'Severely Underestimated', Report Says

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Demise of Rangelands 'Severely Underestimated', Report Says

From camel drivers in the Sahara to nomads on the Mongolian steppe, traditional herders the world over rely on earth's wildest open spaces to support an ancient way of life.
But the expansive plains, tundra and savanna they inhabit are in much greater peril than previously thought, researchers said Tuesday in a major reassessment of the health of these crucial environments.
As much as half of all rangelands -- encompassing some of nature's most striking vistas from the Arctic to the tropics, deserts and mountains -- are believed to be degraded, the report said.
Mostly natural grasslands used by livestock and wild animals to graze, they also include scrubland, mountain plateaus, deserts and wetlands.
Climate change, urban expansion, population growth and the conversion of land for farming was fueling their destruction, said the report by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
Rangelands were grossly undervalued and their "silent demise" had passed mostly unnoticed despite what was at stake, said UNCCD executive secretary Ibrahim Thiaw.
"We as humanity have to pay attention to this," he told AFP.
The "persistent loss and deterioration" of rangelands would be felt beyond the pastoralist communities who have adapted to life in these environments over centuries, the report said.
Climate ally
Healthy rangelands are an asset in the fight against global warming, locking away carbon in soil and spurring the growth of vegetation that pulls planet-heating CO2 from the atmosphere.
Traditional farming customs -- such as rotating grazing areas and conserving scarce resources in difficult times -- improved soil health and its capacity to store carbon, the report's lead author Pedro Maria Herrera Calvo told AFP.
Poor policy, neglect and large-scale rangeland mismanagement had eroded soils, releasing carbon rather than storing it, and stripped the earth of the nutrients needed to support plant and animal life.
Rangelands are biodiversity hotspots, providing habitats for Africa's most iconic wildlife, and pasture for one billion grazing animals, the report said.
They account for one-sixth of the world's food production, it added, and underpin many national economies.
They are also a cultural bedrock for half a billion pastoralist people in more than 100 countries, mostly poor and marginalized communities such as the Bedouin, Fulani and Saami.
A quarter of the world's languages are spoken among pastoral groups who call these places home.
"It is part of our heritage," said Thiaw. "Losing it would mean not only losing ecosystems and losing the economy, but losing our own culture."
'Voiceless and powerless'
Yet they are barely studied, said Calvo. Rosier outlooks did not reflect reality, and this reassessment by dozens of experts was long overdue, he added.
"We feel that the actual data estimating rangelands degradation around 25 percent is severely underestimated," he said. "We think that almost 35 -– even 50 percent –- of rangelands are already degraded."
Rangelands cover 80 million square kilometers -- more than half the land surface of earth. Protecting them would require policy that better supports the pastoralists who understand them best, the report said.
Instead of having a seat at the table however, nomadic communities were "voiceless and powerless", the report said.
Ignoring their wisdom in sustainably managing these complex environments -- or, worse still, forcing them off the land -- would only condemn these wild places and their custodians to an even bleaker future, Thiaw argued.
"It is important for this to be taken much more seriously."



Amsterdam Honors its Own Golden Age Sculpture Master

Quellinus has been described as the Bernini of the North. Ramon van Flymen / ANP/AFP
Quellinus has been described as the Bernini of the North. Ramon van Flymen / ANP/AFP
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Amsterdam Honors its Own Golden Age Sculpture Master

Quellinus has been described as the Bernini of the North. Ramon van Flymen / ANP/AFP
Quellinus has been described as the Bernini of the North. Ramon van Flymen / ANP/AFP

Imposing but delicate marble sculptures of Graeco-Roman-style figures grace the vaulted corridors of a huge palace. But this isn't Florence or Rome. This is Amsterdam.

As part of celebrations to mark 750 years since the founding of the Dutch capital, the city is unveiling from Wednesday an exhibition dedicated to Artus Quellinus, the 17th century "sculptor of Amsterdam."

Virtually unknown outside Flanders in present-day Belgium where he made his name, the city has Quellinus to thank for the decorations on the Royal Palace that dominates the city's iconic Dam Square.

Quellinus "lifted our sculpture to a new level" with a fresh style, Dutch art historian Bieke van der Mark told AFP.

Born in Antwerp in 1606, Quellinus sculpted with marble, as well as ivory and clay.

His style, heavily influenced by Flemish baroque painter Reubens, was a complete novelty for the Protestant Netherlands, used to a more sober style at the time.

His subjects -- mythological figures, chubby angels, and animals -- are perhaps a nod to the great masters he would have seen while an apprentice in Rome.

"Like (17th century Italian master Gian Lorenzo) Bernini, he masters the way the flesh looks, and hands," said Van der Mark.

"It's really fantastic," said the 46-year-old, pointing to a statue of the Saturn devouring his son, whom he holds in his huge veiny hands.

Organized by the Amsterdam Royal Palace and the Rijksmuseum, this is the first-ever retrospective devoted to Quellinus, displaying more than 100 of his works from national and international collections.

"We spent quite some time to select and to collect, to bring together all these very special works... to show Quellinus at his best," said curator Liesbeth van Noortwijk.

"Because I think he's an artist that deserves that."

"We dare to call him the Bernini of the North... And I think this is no exaggeration," she told AFP.

The decorations of Amsterdam's Royal Palace, built as a town hall between 1648 and 1665, remains Quellinus's statement work, with an iconic figure on the roof of Atlas bearing the world on his shoulders.

Now, nearly 400 years on, the city hopes the show will raise awareness of the hitherto unrecognized "sculptor of Amsterdam."