Review of international and transboundary agreements and policies on pastoralism

Prepared by Lydia Slobodian, Claire Ogali & Jonathan Davies, IUCN

A progressive movement: The need for pastoral mobility • Economic values: livestock and non-livestock benefits

• Environmental values: promotion and protection of biodiversity and ecosystem services

• Cultural values: global heritage and knowledge

History of transboundary mobility

• Pre-dates modern nation states

• Evidence of transboundary pastoral infrastructure (e.g. Cameroon/Chad)

• International boundaries often drawn in pastoral areas

• Historical arrangements may have been formalised over time (e.g. facerias across France-Spain border)

Estimation of international boundaries where transboundary pastoralism currently takes place

Reasons for TB pastoralism

• Trade

• Resource access – daily, seasonal, occasional (inc. drought)

• Managing uncertainty and variability

• Expanding the genetic pool of livestock

• Family and cultural exchange

• Maintaining alliances

• Ecosystem management (more of a benefit than a need)

Concerns raised over TB pastoralism

• Benefits of sedenterisation: access to health, education, government

• Security

• National identity

• Lost livestock revenue

Barriers and boundaries

• Closure of frontiers (e.g. ebola)

• International conflict

• Local conflict

• Non-recognition of pastoralist’s resource rights

• Livestock disease

• Regulation of trade

• Transformation of pastoral systems and overall declining mobility

• Loss of TB resources (e.g. Cheffa)

Support for transboundary pastoralism

• Trade initiatives (e.g. Ethiopia Kenya)

• Transboundary protected areas (e.g. Italy Switzerland)

• Cross border disease control

• Cross-border humanitarian interventions

Legal Principles and Approaches for Transboundary Pastoralism

• Legal concepts relevant to transboundary pastoralism (e.g. bundle of rights, collective rights etc.)

• Legal approaches to governing transboundary pastoralism

• International legal principles and frameworks (e.g. UNESCO, CBD etc.)

Types of Legal Arrangements • Bilateral Treaties (e.g. Saudi Arabia-Iraq Frontier Treaty,

1991)

• Regional Mechanisms (e.g. ECOWAS, 1998 )

• National Legislation (e.g. Pastoral Charter of Mali;

Kyrgyz Pasture Law; South African Animal Improvement

Act 62, 1998 )

• Local Arrangements (e.g. facerias, France-Spain)

Content of Legal Arrangements • Substantive provisions

• Processes for permits and border crossings

• Institutional structure

Substantive provisions 1/2 • Authorization of cross-border transhumance (e.g. China-

Nepal Border Grazing Agreement, 2012, Italy-Switzerland Convention concerning frontier traffic and grazing

• Grazing season timing and duration (e.g. ECOWAS Decision 10/98; Saudi Arabia-Iraq Frontier Treaty)

• Grazing routes and pastures (e.g. ECOWAS Decision 10/98, China-Nepal Border Grazing Agreement)

• Rights of transboundary herders (e.g. Oman-Yemen Boundary Agreement provides that herdsmen can benefit from health services in the territory of the other country)

• Restrictions on firearms, vehicles and other equipment or substances (many examples)

Substantive provisions 2/2 • Restrictions on activities of transboundary herders and

obligation to follow law of the host country • Tax/duty and passport/residence exemptions (e.g. Italy-

Switzerland Convention, Oman-Yemen Agreement, Saudi Arabia-Iraq Frontier Treaty)

• Sanitary requirements (e.g. the Belgium-France Pastures Arrangement)

• Emergency disease-control measures (e.g. China-Nepal Border Grazing Agreement, Oman-Yemen Boundary Agreement, Belgium-France Pastures Agreement)

• Tribal/traditional law and formal recognition of legal pluralism (e.g. the Oman-Yemen Boundary Agreement)

Processes for permits and border crossings • Permit/certification process

• Content of applications and permits (e.g. composition of the herd, vaccination information, border crossing, origin, destination, routes etc.)

• Border control measures (including immigration and customs, veterinary checks, certificate of transhumance etc.)

Institutional structure

• Type of institution and modalities of operation • E.g. the Burkina Faso-Niger Protocol (2003) sets up a two-

organ institutional structure

• Competence and mandate (e.g. establishing quotas, dates and timing, crossing points etc.)

• Dispute resolution

Key Lessons Too detailed to present, but review copy and provide comments. A few examples:

• Overlapping, fuzzy rights create challenges to securing transboundary rights

• A plurality of laws and rules exist within as well as between countries

• Frontier closures may be founded on legitimate fears and may be intended to protect pastoralists

• Recognize that pastoralism and patterns of mobility has changed and continues to change

• Take advantage of established precedents, including the VGGT and ILO Convention 169

Absence of legal arrangements does not have to be a barrier to strengthening transboundary governance

Recommendations (preliminary for consultation) • Learn from past experiences

• Emphasize policy implementation

• Ensure adequate consultation with pastoralists

• Evaluate the benefits of transboundary pastoralism

• Analyse the barriers to transboundary management

• Training and awareness raising for pastoralists and public servants