Bollig, M.

Frank, K.

Linstädter, Anja

Müller, Birgit

Wissel, C.

English

University of Kentucky

University of Kentucky UKnowledge International Grassland Congress Proceedings XXI International Grassland Congress / VIII International Rangeland Congress Deriving Basic Principles in Sustainable Management from Local Knowledge: Modelling Himba's Grazing Regime (Namibia) Birgit Müller Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung, Germany Anja Linstädter University of Cologne, Germany K. Frank Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung, Germany M. Bollig University of Cologne, Germany C. Wissel Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung, Germany Follow this and additional works at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc  Part of the Plant Sciences Commons, and the Soil Science Commons This document is available at https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/21/17-1/22 The XXI International Grassland Congress / VIII International Rangeland Congress took place in Hohhot, China from June 29 through July 5, 2008. Proceedings edited by Organizing Committee of 2008 IGC/IRC Conference Published by Guangdong People's Publishing House This Event is brought to you for free and open access by the Plant and Soil Sciences at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in International Grassland Congress Proceedings by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact UKnowledge@lsv.uky.edu. 瞯 ]876　 瞯 　 Multifunctional Grasslands in a Changing World 　 Volume Ⅱ 　Grasslands/Rangelands People and Policies——— People in Grasslands/RangelandsDeriving basic principles in sustainable management from local knowledge : Modelling Himba摧sgrazing regime (Namibia)B .Müller 1 , A . L inst惫dter2 , K . Frank1 , M . Bollig3 , C . W issel 11 Department o f Ecological Modelling , Helmholtz Centre f or Env ironmental Research‐UFZ , Leip z ig , Permoser Str . 15 , D‐04318 Leip z ig , Germany , E‐mail : birgit .mueller ＠ u f z . de , 2 Botanical Institute , University o f Cologne , Germany ,3 Institute o f Social and Cultural A nthropology , University o f Cologne , GermanyKey words : non‐equilibrium system , reserves for drought , resting , simulation model , spatial and temporal heterogeneityIntroduction It is widely accepted that successful grazing management strategies in semi‐arid ecosystems need to be adapted tothe highly temporal and spatial heterogeneous forage production . Nevertheless , a full understanding of the key factors andprocesses for sustainable adaptive management has yet to be reached . The investigation of existing , successful rangemanagement systems by simulation models may help to derive general understanding and basic principles . Pastoral nomads indifferent parts of the world have developed sophisticated strategies adapted to the temporal and spatial heterogeneity of fodderproduction .Materials and methods The semi‐nomadic Himba in northern Namibia applied a sophisticated management system until the mid‐nineties of the last century which combined season‐dependent pasture use ( resulting in rainy season pastures and dry seasonpastures) , preservation of reserves for drought and sanctions for rule breaking . In this study , a spatially implicit ecologicalmodel is used to represent the range management system of one settlement of Himba herders including its pastures . The long‐term impact of the grazing regime under stochastic rainfall on the two primary sources of fodder annual and perennial grasses isinvestigated .With this model the following questions are addressed : ( i) which components of the traditional Himba strategy are essential forsustainability and ( ii) what happens to the state of the rangeland system under socio‐economic changes .Results and discussion This study shows that temporally and spatially heterogeneous pasture use yields higher productivity andquality of a pasture area than the pressure of homogeneous ,permanent grazing (Müller et al . ２００７ ) . Therefore twocomponents of the traditional Himba strategy are of importance : Intraannual heterogeneous use which grants seasonal restingfor the pasture and interannual heterogeneous use by allotting reserves for times of drought . These two components need to bemaintained under changing conditions in the northern Kunene Region . Furthermore , we hypothesize that these are importantbasic principles for sustainable range management in semiarid regions in general . This management system leads to an effectivebuild up and use of a buffer in the system‐the reserve biomass ( the non‐photosynthetic reserve organs of the plants ) , anindicator for grazing and management history .Analyzing purchase as one form of socio‐economic change , we demonstrate that easier market access to purchase livestock maylead to a decline in vegetation quality in the following sense : The portion of perennial grasses decreases , while the portion ofannuals increases . However , cattle number increase as long as rest periods on parts of the pasture during the rainy season aregranted . This follows from the positive effect of purchase on cattle dynamics : The plant biomass can be used more effectivelyafter a drought and low cattle numbers‐livestock is restocked . In contrast , if the pasture is continuous grazed without reservesfor drought , the negative effect of purchase on vegetation outweighs the mentioned positive effect of purchase on cattledynamics . Under these conditions cattle number even decrease with purchase in long‐term .Methodologically , we emphasize that simulation models offer an excellent framework for analyzing and depicting basic principlesin sustainable range management derived from local knowledge . They provide the opportunity of testing whether these basicprinciples are also valid under different ecological and socio‐economic settings . This approach enables to address the even morecrucial question in the future what the ( ecological and socio‐economic) boundary conditions permitting sustainable land use are .ReferenceMüller ,B . ,Linst惫dter , A . , Frank , K . , Bollig , M . , Wissel , C . , ２００７ . Learning from local ecological knowledge : modelingthe pastoral‐nomadic range management of the Himba , Namibia . Ecological Applications １７ (７) , １８５７‐１８７５ .

Deriving Basic Principles in Sustainable Management from Local Knowledge: Modelling Himba\u27s Grazing Regime (Namibia)

https://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3758&context=igc

Deriving Basic Principles in Sustainable Management from Local Knowledge: Modelling Himba\u27s Grazing Regime (Namibia)

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