Incentivising rangeland management for multiple benefits in Shailung

Organisers: ICIMOD

About the event

The Himalayan Resilience Enabling Action Programme (HIREAP) of ICIMOD is organising a landscape journey through the pastures and forests of Sailung in Dolakha and Ramechhap districts to scale up rangeland restoration incentivizing local yak herders and farming communities. The idea is to work with local government to develop an innovative incentive measures to support stewardship, strengthen local livelihoods, and sustain vital ecosystems.

The journey will bring together diverse stakeholders – including local governments, government line agencies, pastoralists, community forest user groups (CFUGs), banks, national media, and experts – to  discuss the incentive mechanism. This collaborative effort aims to support rangeland management for multiple benefits as a Nature based Solution (NbS).

This event builds upon the outcomes of the Actioning Incentives workshop where ICIMOD’s portfolio on two NbS – springshed management and rangeland management – were shared among commercial banks and financial institutions. This journey presents a unique opportunity for all stakeholders to recognize the importance of rangeland restoration and support  in an impactful, scalable way to improve livelihoods, preserve ecosystems, and achieve measurable sustainability outcomes. This understanding  will reinforce and complement current rangeland research and restoration work facilitated by ICIMOD in Shailung.

Objectives

The specific objectives of this event are to:

• Discuss initial framework of innovative incentive mechanism tailored to sustainable rangeland management.
• Sensitise relevant institutions to the importance of managing rangelands for multiple benefits and why innovating incentives matter
• Advance policy change through positive policy advocacy elaborating on new leadership of local government and roles and responsibilities of private sector and civil society

About Shailung rangeland

Shailung rangeland is spread across parts of Dolakha and Ramechhap districts in Bagmati Province, Nepal, and lies at a lower altitude unlike other rangelands for yak herding, ranging from 2,800 to 3,150 meters above sea-level. There are around 14 grazing areas spanning 170 ha, that fall under the jurisdiction of four CFUGs.

Currently, Shailung is facing increasing pressure from overgrazing, land-use change, youth outmigration, leading to degradation of its alpine pastures, weakening of customary institutions, and loss of ecosystem services. These changes threaten both biodiversity and livelihoods of herding communities who have stewarded these landscapes for generations.

Various activities are being undertaken for rangeland restoration at this site, which will be highlighted as a part of the journey alongside interactions with pastoralists, government officials, community forestry user groups and local government officials to collectively understand pastoral traditions and promote rangeland management as a Nature based Solution. The landscape journey as a process will help facilitate a new development narrative based on collective awareness and collaborative action. In addition to being a learning experience for all participants, it will also underline the shared understanding, visioning, and joint actions that are at the very heart of NbS design.

This event is supported by the United Kingdom International Development through its Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).