Testing a framework for detecting influences of local pastoralist institutions on rangeland condition

Local rangeland management institutions, livestock keepers, and their local knowledge are increasingly recognized for their roles in land stewardship, including in pastoralist rangelands. To test a framework for detecting impacts of community-based rangeland management in 10 rangelands in East Africa, we used three remote sensing indicators—bare soil cover, vegetation greenness, and rainfall use efficiency—to investigate long-term (up to 17 yr) changes in rangeland condition alongside contemporaneous shifts in local management institutions supported with capacity building on rangeland management. Rangeland condition changes were quantified in terms of absolute change, and change relative to neighboring reference rangelands. In 9 of 10 rangelands, rangeland condition indicators remained mostly stable or improved in absolute terms. Annual net absolute declines in bare soil cover averaged 0.43 km2 · 1,000 km−2 · yr−1, 95% confidence interval [–4.67, 3.80], for an average of 303.7 ha [–2,139, 1531] per rangeland annually. Relative to reference rangelands, bare soil declined by 0.82 [–7.48, 5.85] km2 · 1,000 km−2 · yr−1, or 470.3 [–3,485, 2,544] ha · rangeland−1 · yr−1 on average, and in 5 of 10 rangelands decreased more than in references. Greenness generally increased and was often negatively correlated with decreases in bare soil, while rainfall use efficiency varied widely. Comparison with reference sites indicated that stability or gains in rangeland condition appeared at least partly attributable to improvement in the capacity of local rangeland management institutions and the use of local or traditional management practice. These changes occurred notwithstanding strong climate impacts among other drivers, indicating that local pastoralist institutions may capably lead and deliver on regenerative rangeland management.