On March 15, 2022, the United Nations General Assembly in New York declared 2026 the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP). Numerous countries and organizations have come together to raise awareness for the world's largest ecosystem -- rangelands. The United Nations declaration affirms that "rangelands are vital for contributing to economic growth, resilient livelihoods and the sustainable development of pastoralism." It also recognizes that "pastoralism is a dynamic and transformative livelihood linked to diverse ecosystems, cultures, identities, traditional knowledge and historical experience of coexisting with nature."
For over fifty years, I have had unique opportunities to work with pastoralists in Asia. The regions I am familiar with in the Himalaya, Tibetan Plateau, and Mongolian Steppe encompass ecological and cultural hotspots critical for the livelihoods of not only pastoralists who raise livestock on the rangelands but also for millions of other people living downstream. These rangelands face numerous vulnerabilities because of climate change, mining, poorly planned economic development, overgrazing, biodiversity loss, and lack of understanding of the fragile nature of the grazinglands. Pastoralists throughout the region face numerous challenges in the sustainable management of the rangelands they use.
These photographs aim to raise awareness of rangelands and the pastoralists (i.e., nomads, herders) in the Himalaya, Tibetan Plateau and Mongolian Steppe. The pastoralists are the "Guardians of the Grasslands and this exhibit also celebrates IYRP. Some photographs are now of ethnographic value as they document a way of life that is disappearing.
Source: Socialdocumentary.net Bhutan, China, Mongolia, Nepal | Pastoralists: Guardians of the Grasslands | Daniel Miller | staging.socialdocumentary.net https://share.google/14HjhzodKkH1vF1DY