Participatory planning of pasture management through the involvement of pasture users
The Grazing Management Plan is an important tool for improving the joint work of the local forestry and pasture committee and pasture users aimed at the development of joint management of forest pastures, conservation of forest ecosystems and rational use of lands of the state forest fund.
The Grazing management plan in the forest areas is developed annually by March 1, together with the pasture committee and the forestry committee and also involves pasture users before the beginning of the grazing season.
The developed Grazing Management Plan, agreed with the Pasture Committee, is approved by the order of the Director of Forestry.
The implementation of the management plan is monitored by the forestry and the pasture committee at least twice a year and monitoring is initiated by the forestry committee. During the joint monitoring they visit the pasture areas and check how the developed plan is implemented and determine the improvements that can be included for the next year.
The grazing management plan includes the following sections :
1.Chapter/ Introduction.
2.Chapter. Characteristics of the forestry, village and information about the pasture committee.
3 Chapter. Current condition of grazing (Information about the number of cattle of the shepherds).
4.Chapter. Determination of acceptable grazing load on forestry lands (Determination of grazing rates, distribution of number of livestock on grazed plots, mapping of plots).
5.Chapter. Planning the use of lands used for grazing (grazing schedule, assessment of grazing load, identification of problems and needs in grazing).
6.Chapter. Monitoring the implementation of the plan (data on the results of monitoring the use of land for the current year is entered).
1. Study of the previous pasture management plans to identify needs for improvement
2 Participating local pasture users for developing process
3.list of number of livestock and herders
3. Map of pasture areas with divided plots
4. Grazing calendars to avoid early grazing in spring
According to pasture monitoring calculations the pressure on pastures is very high due to the increasing number of livestock. In addition, these calculations are affected by the fact that local households deliberately hide the exact number of livestock from the registration of the local municipality in pursuit of government subsidies paid to low-income families who account for the ownership of livestock (less than 4 cows and 20 sheep in the family). At the same time, the lack of accurate reporting of the number of livestock also leads to lower payments for the use of grazing land and increased degradation.
As a result, when developing a livestock grazing management plan, we have taken more data from local pasture users and veterinarians who used to have more accurate data on the number of livestock in the village. During vaccination and other veterinary activities they update their data.
Promoting pasture management in the context of improved biodiversity and ecosystem services faces such challenges:
- Preventing the destruction of forested areas by livestock grazing is particularly difficult because of ever-increasing livestock populations and a shortage of pasture areas;
- Fencing and maintenance of pasture areas is expensive and work-intensive;
- Staff turnover among forestries and pasture committees for pasture management complicates the sustainability of pasture management and requires large investments for continuous capacity building of new staff.
