The Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock inspired by Mongolian herders

This year, the Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock (GASL) chose a special venue for its 8^th annual Multistakeholder Partnership Meeting. In the impressive landscape of Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, around 250 participants from governments, research institutes, private sector, social movements, NGOs and of many other backgrounds discussed about the future of GASL and the nomadic livestock keepers in Mongolia and the world. Mongolian pastoralism thereby played a key role as known for long traditions of keeping herds in the rangelands of the countryside. The herders and their animals are particularly threatened by climate change and overgrazing: With a mean temperature change of 2,24 Celsius since 1940, generally less precipitation in summer, droughts, and extreme cold weather in winter, so called Dzud, combined with an overpopulation of sheep, goat and yak herds, they face some big challenges. The Global Agenda was happy to contribute to the discussion about making their nomadic system more sustainable in direct interaction with herders and included their opinions with all other stakeholders in the future planning of the GASL.

As a follow-up of the MSP Meeting, the importance of the connection between climate change and livestock was reflected in several articles:

Christian Science Monitor: In global warming fight, new tactics to make cows burp less
This is Money: Fighting global warming, one cow belch at a time

CBC: Livestock with less methane: Scientists seek ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Times of Malta: Fighting global warming, one cow belch at a time
Devdiscourse: Reducing methane from livestock to tackle global warming
Business Insider India: Livestock emits as much carbon as transport vehicles. How do we control this?

More articles related to the 2018 MSP Meeting of GASL can be found here.