Healthy Ecosystems for Rangeland Development (HERD)

Rangelands subjected to land degradation are the object of management interventions under the GEF funded project: Healthy Ecosystems for Rangeland Development (HERD). HERD builds on the sustainable management of pastoral rangelands for the provision of ecosystem services and protection of biodiversity. The concept of HERD is being consolidated through this project on the back of numerous projects, programs, initiatives, studies, scientific articles and policy papers.

The four-year GEF project focuses on desertification of pastoral rangelands in Jordan and Egypt. In addition, the project aims to catalyze the scaling-up of HERD, both regionally and globally.

HERD aims at strengthening restoration and sustainable management of pastoral rangelands for the provision of ecosystem services and protection of biodiversity in Egypt and Jordan and catalyzing scale up regionally and globally.

This will be achieved through the delivery of six results-oriented project Outcomes, grouped under four Components that focus on the following:

Provision of evidence-based technical assistance.
Institutional strengthening for rangeland governance.
Up-scaling of good practices in Sustainable Rangeland Management (SRM).
Promoting SRM knowledge management, including at the global and regional levels.

The following are the project’s Outputs:

Output 1.1) Rangeland monitoring systems institutionalized nationally and regionally based on commonly agreed scale-dependent indicators appropriate for different end-user groups;
Output 1.2) Good practices and effective policies in sustainable rangeland management and rangeland rehabilitation identified and prioritized for implementation;
Output 2.1) Local organizations for rangeland management (community and government) engage in more inclusive dialogue for improved rangeland governance covering approximately 500,000 hectares;
Output 2.2) Participating communities use PRMP to guide the establishment of rules and regulations for improved rangelands management (in line with the Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure);
Output 3.1) Local farmers / pastoralists adopt good practices in rangeland restoration and management and supporting services with support from local government agencies; and
Output 4.1) Increased support for sustainable pastoralism in investments and public decision/policy- making, nationally, regionally and globally.