Dear Grasslands Enthusiast,

This issue of the Grasslands Newsletter brings you news on the recent events of the United Nation’s Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) 10th Conference of the Parties (COP 10) held in Nagoya, Japan this past October. This meeting of the COP was particularly significant as it was successful in reaching consensus agreement on all three pillars of the Convention: a new ten year Strategic Plan to guide international and national efforts to save biodiversity; a resource mobilization strategy that provides the way forward to substantially increase development assistance in support of biodiversity; and a new international protocol on access to and sharing of the benefits from the use of the genetic resources of the planet.

For the first time in the history of the Convention, indigenous temperate grasslands were represented at a CBD COP. Several members of the Temperate Grasslands Conservation Initiative (TGCI) team attended the meeting with the goal of having indigenous temperate grasslands, the most altered and least protected biome in the world, get specific mention as

Temperate Grasslands Conservation Initiative

Protection of the World’s Temperate Grasslands is Gaining Ground

Grasslands in Patagonia

Newsletter 5 – December 2010

a high priority in the new Strategic Plan. We held a small workshop and a side-event, attracting interest from the representatives of several countries. We also attempted to influence the discussion during the negotiations, and while we were not entirely successful here, there is now direct reference in the COP document on Protected Areas to “improving protected area coverage of under-represented biomes and ecosystems”.

Furthermore, our colleagues working with the COP agenda item on the Biodiversity of Dry and Sub-humid Lands were successful in entering specific language on the need to “increase the extent of temperate grasslands contained in protected areas in order to address the under-representation of such protected areas”.

We are particularly pleased with these references to the plight of under-represented biomes and to temperate grasslands specifically. It is difficult to imagine that we could have achieved much more at COP 10 given its large scale and massive agenda. Our challenge now is to use these references to our advantage in fundraising efforts and our continuing challenge to increase the level of protection for indigenous temperate grasslands on the ground.

Bill Henwood, Project Director

Our MissionTemperate Grassland Conservation Strategy

To reverse the trend of biodiversity loss and degradation of the indigenous temperate grasslands biome by promoting both the designation and special management of representative protected areas, and the widespread use of sustainable management practices beyond protected area boundaries, with the goal of at least doubling the current level of 5% protection by 2014.

The Temperate Grassland Conservation Initiative team at COP 10, (Bill Henwood, Naomi Doak, Andrea Michelson, Arturo Muro, Lousie Gilfedder and Ewa Madon), had an ambitious task ahead of them; seeking to gain support to ensure the CBD’s programme of work on protected areas (PoWPA) recognizes the situation of the temperate grasslands biome and subsequently prioritizes securing ‘on-the-ground’ support and action in protecting this important and threatened biome. The Initiative also held two events at the meeting, a half day workshop and a 1 1/2 hour official side event, as part of developing and progressing the TGCI mission and networks at an international level.

2TGCI Newsletter 5 - December 2010

The workshop and side event aimed to: • provide an opportunity to continue to raise awareness on

the issue of temperate grasslands conservation;

• provide an opportunity to update participants on the progress of TGCI;

• undertake strategic planning and direction setting for the future of the TGCI and temperate grassland conservation;

• enable the TGCI to harness the collective knowledge, ideas and experience of the participants; and

• renew the support established for the TGCI at the Hohhot workshop and for temperate grasslands conservation in general.

Summary of Actions from COP 10The events, discussions and decisions from CBD COP 10provided some encouraging results and outcomes. Members of the project team who attended the meeting were able to contribute to valuable discussions while also learning valuable lessons about the processes involved in influencing decisions and supporting country delegations with information about the importance of temperate grasslands.Despite concerted efforts by the team and the delegates from Argentina and Uruguay to include a specific reference to temperate grasslands as an under-represented biome within the Protected Area Adopted Decision Paper submitted by the chair of working group 1 under the Strategies for strengthening implementation at a Global Level, Decision 7 (b) some countries refused to accept the reference to specific ecosystems or biomes. However, the inclusion of a specific reference to underrepresented biomes is a step forward in itself as this was not in the pre-COP 10 draft decisions document. A copy of the Advances Unedited Text for the Protected Areas Decision as Adopted is available at http://www.cbd.int/nagoya/outcomes/.While efforts of the team attending the meeting focused on the PoWPA, as we felt this was important to progress in regards to protection of temperate grasslands, there was also some very encouraging and positive results from the Discussions on Biodiversity of Dry and Sub-humid Lands. The decision as adopted in regards to this topic “Urges Parties and other Governments, where appropriate, to (d) Increase the extent of temperate grasslands contained in protected areas in order to address the under-representation of such protected areas.” The inclusion of this text, at the urging of the Mongolian official delegation, means that one or more Parties have submitted this proposal and most importantly it was agreed to within the working group discussion. This text provides a basis for further work while also providing the first specific mention of temperate grasslands in the decisions of the CBD.

Profiling the Temperate Grasslands Initiative at COP10

The workshop was held as part of the Interactive Fair

for Biodiversity NGO/NPO Forum, a parallel event to

the main meeting, and provided a great opportunity for

the TGCI team and the small number of participants

to discuss: the global challenges facing temperate

grasslands (restoration of grasslands being highlighted);

similar strategies and conservation initiatives employed

throughout the world to increase protection; and how

to further promote the need for temperate grassland

conservation.

The side event, held in conjunction with the official

meeting, provided an opportunity to reemphasize

the workshop objectives to a targeted and influential

audience. CBD official delegates from the governments

of Uruguay, Argentina and Mongolia attended the event

and expressed their support for the Initiative’s work

and for the need for increased protection of indigenous

temperate grasslands. Bill and Andrea presented the

Initiative’s work and updates on the status of South

American temperate grasslands and a delegate from

the Mongolian government showcased their efforts in

increasing the protection for the Daurian Steppe.

Each of these events provided extremely valuable

opportunities to increase our network and to develop

partnerships and support for the Initiative’s crucial mission.

3TGCI Newsletter 5 - December 2010

► LESSONS LEARNED AT COP 10

& FUTURE EFFORTS

Some valuable lessons were learned at the

COP 10 meeting and the project team came

away from these discussions with a deeper

understanding of the mechanisms of the

Convention on Biodiversity. This experience

will provide the basis for future efforts to

conserve indigenous temperate grasslands.

These include:

• continue to work with a number of the

CBD Programmes of Work;

• access network links to CBD focal points,

especially in regards to PoWPA to refocus

efforts to include temperate grasslands;

• develop discussion papers for SBSTTA

meetings leading into the next COP; and

• continue our bilateral work with WCPA’s

Specialist Group on Mountains and

Corridors and WISP (The World’s Initiative

on Sustainable Pastoralism).

& DON’T FORGET...We have developed concept notes outlining our global strategy and for each of our four priority areas: East Asia, South America, North America and Eurasia. These notes are available on our website: http://www.iucn.org/about/union/commissions/wcpa/wcpa_what/wcpa_conservingsd/wcpa_grasslandstf/

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NC

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photo: Karsten Wesche

Páramo

Greatest Potential for Indigenous Temperate Grasslands Conservation at a Landscape Scale

Temperate Grasslands

The North American Prairie includes the Northern Great Plains of Canada and the United States, and the Chihuahuan Desert Grasslands of Mexico

photo: Krista Connick Todd

The Daurian Steppe and Amur River Basin spanning China, Mongolia and Russia

photo: Vadim Kiriliuk

South American Patagonia Steppe

photo: Adriano Becker photo: Alan Mark

South American Pampas

photo: Bridget Besaw/TNC

Ethiopian Mountain Grasslands

New Zealand’s mid-elevation grasslands

Mongolian Steppes

Intermontane Grasslands

Chihuahuan Desert Grasslands

Central Andean Puna

Eurasian Steppe

Kazakh Steppe

Mountain Grasslands of Eastern Africa Mountain

Steppes of Southeastern Asia

Northern China

Daurian Steppe and Amur River Basin

New Guinea

Southeastern Australia

New Zealand

South African Veld Grasslands

Pampas and Campos

Patagonia Steppe

North American Prairie

Northern Great Plains

The World’s Temperate Grasslands Conservation Priorities

cartography: Ole HeggenDepartment of Geography

University of Victoria

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Temperate Grasslands Conservation Initiative: The Dauria Ecoregion Overview

THE DAURIA ECOREGION

Conserving East Asia’s last vast grassland

The Dauria Steppe of East Asia

Photo: Oleg Goroshko – DIPA

Grassland steppe of the Dauria region

The Daurian steppe of East Asia is a vast temperate grassland scattered with wetlands, rivers and pockets of forest. Extending over one

million square kilometres, this transboundary ecoregion stretches across eastern Mongolia and north-eastern China and also reaches into

Russian Siberia. The region is one of extremes – subject to severe winters, massive temperature fluctuations, and scarce and fragile water resources.

The Dauria is one of the largest areas of indigenous temperate grassland that remains on our planet. For thousands of years a low human

population combined with sustainable land use practices have kept the grassland intact, and hence the potential for large-scale landscape

conservation in the Dauria is enormous. There is an opportunity to act now to protect this pristine grassland before it becomes degraded

and fragmented like so many grasslands in other parts of the world. In recognition of the area’s globally significant conservation potential

and need, the Temperate Grasslands Conservation Initiative (TGCI) has selected the Dauria region as one of its four regional priority areas

for conservation.

The Dauria constitutes one of the best-preserved examples of Eurasian steppe and supports huge populations of large migratory species

such as the Mongolian Gazelle. The vegetation communities that have formed here are unique and rich in endemics. The Dauria is also

an important breeding and stopover site for millions of birds on several Asian flyways, and is critical for the survival of Red-crowned Crane,

White-naped Crane, Swan Goose, Great Bustard and at least 15 other globally threatened bird species. The region retains exceptional

habitat connectivity, essential to preserving the migratory patterns of the region’s wildlife.

Not only is the Dauria a globally significant biodiversity region, the conservation of the Dauria area is imperative to the livelihoods of nomadic

herders and local communities that directly rely on its resources. With its swathes of grassland crossed by rivers,

lakes and wetlands, the Dauria has been central to nomadic herding communities for thousands of years.

Traditional knowledge and a common use of land allowed livestock to be moved around to find the

best pasture, reducing pressure on the natural ecosystem and ensuring that the grassland recovered

between grazing events. It is estimated that in Mongolia alone 60% of the local population are

herders, and fewer but still substantial herder communities exist in Russia and China,

meaning that the Dauria ecoregion is critical to the lives of at least 2 million people.

1Temperate Grasslands Conservation Initiative: North America’s Northern Great Plains

NORTH AMERICA’S NORTHERN GREAT PLAINS

Restoring one of the world’s premiergrassland ecosystems

The Central Grasslands

Photo: Alan Mark

Indigenous short grass prairie Blackfoot Reservation, western Montana

The prairie grasslands of North America are found in the central and western interior of the continent, and include what are commonly referred to as the mixed grass and short grass prairie. Together, they are known as the Central Grasslands which extend in a relatively continuous swath through the heart of the continent covering almost 6 million square kilometres and extending longitudinally for about 1,500 kilometres from southern Canada to northern Mexico. These grasslands once rivalled the renowned Serengeti Plains of Africa for their diversity and abundance of wildlife with populations of a wide variety of grassland birds, bison, elk, pronghorn antelope and deer and their predators, numbering in the tens of millions.

Spanning the boundary between Canada and the United States at the northern end of the Central Grasslands, the Northern Great Plains Ecoregion encompasses an area of approximately 225,000 square kilometres.

1

Temperate Grasslands Conservation Initiative: South American Temperate Grasslands

SOUTH AMERICAN TEMPERATE GRASSLANDSBuilding the regional case for their conservation

The ChallengeThe temperate grasslands of South America form a vast and heterogeneous biome distributed in four ecoregions – paramos, puna,

pampas and campos and the Patagonian steppe. These grasslands occur in every country (except the three Guianas) and occupy about

13% of the continent (2.3 million square kilometres).The four ecoregions of South American temperate grasslands play a key role in sustaining the lives and livelihoods of millions of people

living in urban and rural areas. As such, these ecosystems have been subject to profound land conversion and intensive use for crop

production, afforestation, grazing, water use (irrigation and hydropower generation), mining and oil extraction.

Today, almost half of South American temperate grasslands have been converted to other land uses or degraded, and only 6% are

included in protected areas.During recent years, much progress has been made in terms of research and direct action for the conservation and sustainable use

of South American temperate grasslands. However, as the ecoregions within this biome are big producers for national economies and

they have not been perceived as important ecosystems from a biological perspective, a lot of effort still needs to be made to raise their

conservation profile. Moreover, in the current context of global climate change, the global financial crisis, regional integration projects and

national development policies, new threats have emerged and urgent action is needed if their long-term conservation is to be guaranteed.

The challenge from a regional perspective is to contribute to an overall increase in the protection status of temperate

grasslands and a widespread use of sustainable management practices both inside and outside protected areas.

The Temperate Grasslands Conservation Initiative (TGCI) working in South America intends to tackle

this challenge from a regional perspective. By facilitating transboundary cooperation, coordination

and communication, TGCI in South America will act as a regional node to examine overall

progress in the ecoregions, enhance actions executed in the countries or ecoregions and

influence decision makers and policy building at a regional level.

Photo: Bridget Besaw Guanacos on the Patagonian steppe

1

Temperate Grasslands Conservation Initiative: The Kazakh Steppe

THE KAZAKH STEPPE

Conserving the world’s largest dry steppe region

The Dry Steppe Region

Photo: Chris Magin, IUCN

Saryarka is an internationally significant

mosaic of steppe and wetlands

The steppe grasslands of Eurasia were once among the most extensive in the world, stretching from eastern Romania, Moldova and

Ukraine in eastern Europe (often referred to as the Pontic steppe) east through Kazakhstan and western Russia). Together, the Pontic

and Kazakh steppes, often collectively referred to as the Pontian steppe, comprise about 24% of the world’s temperate grasslands. They

eventually link to the vast grasslands of eastern Asia extending to Mongolia, China and Siberian Russia, together creating the largest

complex of temperate grasslands on earth.

The remaining extent and ecological condition of these grasslands varies considerably by region. Today in eastern Europe, for example,

only 3–5 % remain in a natural or near natural state, with only 0.2% protected. In contrast, the eastward extension of these steppes into

Kazakhstan reveals lower levels of disturbance, where as much as 36% remain in a semi-natural or natural state. Although current levels of

protection in this region are also very low, the steppes of Kazakhstan have the potential to offer significant opportunities for increased

conservation and protection.

The Kazakh steppe, also known as the Kirghiz steppe, is itself one of the largest dry steppe regions on the planet, covering approximately

804,500 square kilometres and extending more than 2,200 kilometres from north of the Caspian Sea east to the Altai Mountains. These

grasslands lie at the southern end of the Ural Mountains, the traditional dividing line between Europe and Asia. This steppe ecosystem is

actually comprised of five different ecological zones, including forest steppe, meadow steppe, dry steppe, desertified steppe and steppe

semi-desert, collectively occupying about 59% of the area of Kazakhstan.

Prior to the 1950’s, the Kazakh steppe was a contiguous intact grassland used extensively by nomadic Kazakh people for grazing their

animals. Through the 1950’s, when Kazakhstan was still part of the Soviet Union, approximately 40% of the steppe was ploughed for

intensive agriculture. While the remaining 60% continued to be used for grazing domestic livestock, the nomadic patterns

of the Kazakh were largely interrupted through the collectivisation of Kazakh livestock into state managed farms.

Within less than a decade, drought and wind erosion reduced much of these ploughed lands to desert-like

conditions. Considerable reforms took place in agricultural land use practices and conditions improved

through the 1970’s and 1980’s. During the post-Soviet 1990’s, agriculture decreased significantly

and many ploughed fields were abandoned. Also, nomadic mobility virtually ceased. Much of the

original steppe is now a mosaic of agricultural lands, with both active and abandoned fields,

and the remaining unploughed steppe. As a result of 40 years of agricultural experiment,

between 17% and 36% of the steppe remains in relatively natural condition.

The Temperate Grasslands of the World The world’s temperate grasslands and the four priorities for large landscape grassland conservation are illustrated on one map. If you have any suggestions for changes/additions to the map please contact Bob Peart, Project Coordinator, at bobpeart@shaw.ca.

The TGCI team would like to thank Pimolwan (Petch) Singawong (IUCN Asia Regional office) and Atsuko Yamazaki (IUCN Japan) for assisting with the logistics of both events and supporting the TGCI presence and contribution to COP 10.

What’s New? • COP 10 delegates signed a treaty to curb the

destruction of nature, particularly in forests and coral reefs; including a commitment to protect 17% of land and 10% of oceans within 10 years. For this information and other agreements reached at the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity go to: http://www.cbd.int/cop10/

• UN launches 10-year campaign to stop the advance of deserts citing poor farming practices, lack of water management, deforestation and climate change. Degradation has affected 3.6 billion hectares, a quarter of the earth’s land surface, and a billion people. http://www.unep.org/downloads/UNDDD_PressKit.zip

• The Changing Wealth of Nations - The World Bank announced the intention to introduce the practice of ecosystem valuation into national accounts at scale so that better management of natural environments becomes “business as usual” regarding the value of ecosystems. http://go.worldbank.org/X5466LOAF0

• Understanding our Native Grasslands - This booklet is intended as an introduction to the grasslands of New South Wales, their agricultural, environmental and indigenous significance, the threats they face and the improvements in management that will help to maintain or improve their values. www.environment.nsw.gov.au/research/vegetation informationsystem.htm

• Formation of a regional alliance to promote conservation and sustainable use of Chihuahuan

desert grasslands, one of North America’s most threatened ecosystems, was announced recently by the Commission for Environmental Conservation. http://www.cec.org/Page.asp?PageID=122&ContentID=3147&SiteNodeID=532

• Two New Zealand events focused on indigenous grasslands - the Annual Conference of the New Zealand Ecological Society included an all-day symposium on the ecology and conservation of indigenous grasslands; and a second meeting followed to address the controversy of the exploding rate of conversion from indigenous grassland to dairying in South Canterbury.

Upcoming Meetings• The IXth International Rangeland Congress being held April 11-15, 2011 in Rosario, Argentina. http://www.irc2011.com.ar/

• The 2012 World Conservation Congress will be held from 6 to 15 September 2012 in Jeju, Republic of Korea: the WCC is the world’s largest and most important conservation event and aims to improve how we manage our natural environment for human, social and economic development. http://www.iucn.rog.congress

• Southern Connection Congress in Dunedin January 2013 will include sessions on temperate indigenous grassland conservation and sustainable management. Contact Dr. Alan Mark, alan.mark@botany.otago.ac.nz

• IUCN World Park Congress 2014 http://www.iucn.org/about/work/programmes/pa/pa_event/wcpa_wpc/

4TGCI Newsletter 5 - December 2010

Temperate Grasslands Conservation Initiative

Suite 300 300 West Georgia StreetVancouver, BC Canada V6B 6B4 P: 604-666-0285 F: 250-666-0446

Project Director: Bill Henwood, Bill.Henwood@pc.gc.ca

Project Coordinator: Bob Peart, bobpeart@shaw.ca

Project Team:Naomi Doak, IUCN, Thailand Bill Henwood, WCPA, CanadaLarissa Hotra, IUCN United StatesJames McBreen, IUCN, EcuadorAlan Mark, New ZealandAndrea Michelson, Argentina Arturo Mora , IUCN, South AmericaBob Peart, WCPA, Canada Peter Shadie, Australia

http://www.iucn.org/about/union/commissions/wcpa/ wcpa_what/wcpa_conservingsd/wcpa_grasslandstf/

AcknowledgementsThe Temperate Grasslands Conservation Initiative and the progress that we have made would not be possible without the generous funding support of the J.M. Kaplan Fund.

The TGCI materials mentioned in this newsletter are available on our website:http://www.iucn.org/about/union/commissions/wcpa/wcpa_what/wcpa_conservingsd/wcpa_grasslandstf/?

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Please contact Bob Peart, Project Coordinator.