On 11 May 2012, the Committee on World Food Security endorsed the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security. The Guidelines are intended to contribute to global and national efforts towards the eradication of hunger and poverty by promoting secure tenure rights and equitable access to land, fisheries and forests. This technical guide on Improving the governance of pastoral lands provides advice and examples of how to strengthen governance of tenure in a pastoral context, recognizing the complexity of pastoral tenure arrangements and the great diversity of pastoral societies worldwide. It complements other technical guides, including Governing tenure rights to commons, Governing land for women and men, Improving governance of forest tenure, Responsible governance of tenure and the law, and Respecting free, prior and informed consent.

The technical guide on Improving the governance of pastoral lands builds on a number of initiatives and studies from recent years that have highlighted pastoral governance and land tenure, revealing the inherent challenges pastoralists face, the shortcomings of governments in securing pastoral tenure, and the emerging examples of success and progress from around the world. Among these is the World Initiative for Sustainable Pastoralism (WISP), a global partnership that gathers and reviews case studies through an extensive network. Two notable global reviews have been particularly influential in the creation of this technical guide: The land we graze 1 and Governance of rangelands 2 – collective action for sustainable pastoralism. Additionally, the emergence of the World Alliance of Mobile Indigenous Peoples (WAMIP) as a credible voice of pastoralists on the global stage has been invaluable in ensuring a high degree of consultation and accountability in the development of studies like this.

Reflecting these initiatives, the technical guide on Improving the governance of pastoral lands has been developed through a consultative process. The overall guide has been authored by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and WISP in collaboration with the Commission on Environment, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP) and the World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL). A technical board consisting of experts in the field of pastoralism, including pastoralist representatives identified through WAMIP, have overseen the development of the guide. It has further been peer reviewed by volunteers identified through the WISP-network and by FAO staff.

The technical guide on Improving the governance of pastoral lands is designed for several audiences including government and non-government actors. While most readers will have a basic knowledge of pastoralism, many will be unfamiliar with the great diversity of pastoralist systems and cultures throughout the world. The guide addresses those who recognize the importance of securing pastoral land tenure and who are looking for practical guidance on how to proceed. The guide is, therefore, not an advocacy document, but it provides arguments in Section 1 for securing pastoral tenure that can be used by different actors to strengthen their justification for such work. While these guidelines provide practical advice that can be operationalized, further work will be required to translate the current document into more local user-friendly products for pastoral communities. It is also recognized that some of the recommendations within this guide will be unattainable for some of the more marginalized pastoralist communities. This is inevitable in a guide that is designed to be applicable in all contexts. It is hoped that, by exposing readers to a range of solutions, the guide can contribute to developing higher aspirations for strengthening governance of pastoralist tenure worldwide.