Grasslands are under threat: 4 things you should know

Overlooked, underestimated, and under threat.

We celebrate our forests, a whole book is dedicated to the lost rainforests of Britain, we crown a ‘tree of the year’ – in 2023 it was the Wrexham’s Acton Park sweet chestnut. But start looking for praised grassland and you will likely come up empty – at least in Britain. Hollywood Westerns may have put North American prairies onto our mental map, and we may have heard about the Cerrado in Brazil, the Pampas in South America, or the steppes in Africa. Unfortunately, none of them are in good shape, according to the Global Land Outlook Thematic Report on Rangelands and Pastoralists published by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), at the end of May.

Why grasslands matter

Grasslands cover roughly half of the world’s land surface. Of the land used for agriculture, only 30% are suitable for arable crops, 70% are grasslands, mostly too steep, too wet or too dry to grow crops such as wheat, barley, maize, oil seeds or soy.

“Rangelands are comprised of grasses, herbaceous plants, and shrubs that are grazed by livestock and/or wildlife. In addition to meat, dairy, fibre, and other animal products, rangelands and their biodiversity underpin critical ecosystem services from local to global scales (e.g., nutrient/water cycling, carbon sequestration, animal/human health)”, says the report. Worldwide, up to 500 million people make a living from grasslands: as livestock farmers, herders and ranchers. The impact of grassland degradation on their livelihoods is the main focus of the report.

In addition, the ecoservices grazed grassland can provide for all of us cannot be overstated: well managed grasslands – grasslands that are neither under nor overgrazed – have a huge potential for sequestering carbon. However, in Britain and other European countries, tree planting is seen as one of the key measures in combatting the climate crisis, while grazing cattle are made out to be climate villains. According to a great number of news headlines and social media there would be no climate crisis if it weren’t for those methane burping and farting cows.

Why cows are climate heroes

To understand why ruminants and cattle in particular are key to mitigating climate change we need to look at the biology of grasses, which is distinctly different from that of other plants and trees. Over millennia, grasslands coevolved with ruminants. Wild cattle like Aurochs roamed European grasslands, in North America, an estimated 60 million bison grazed on short grass, mixed grass and long grass prairies – until they were all but eradicated by white settlers.

So, where’s the difference in growth between grasses and other plants? Leafy plants and trees grow from buds at the end of a branch or the top end of a stem. If an animal bites off such a new shoot, the bud will not regrow. That’s why plants have come up with defence mechanisms such as growing thorns or producing tannins which make leaves bitter and unpalatable.

Grasses are different: grazing triggers a growth spurt. Grasses flourish in particular when they are grazed by bovines such as cattle or bison. As they slowly move across a pasture, they use their tongues to rip off the tops of the grasses, leaving poo and pee fertiliser in their wake.

Why grasses are more than meets the eye

In a way, grasses resemble icebergs: what we see is a small part of the whole, the mass of an iceberg lies under water and remains invisible. In the case of grasses, the green part we see above ground is small compared to the root mass below ground. And roots and root exudates together with soil organisms and mycorrhizae turn (well-managed, grazed) grasslands not only into carbon sinks; because the root mass is so dense, the soil can absorb and store a lot of water. That’s essential in phases of drought and during torrential rain events: the root mass ‘anchors’ the soil, even on steep hill sites it will not be washed away.

Why this matters in Britain

The Rangeland Report focusses on southern Europe, but could have included the British Isles. Nothing here grows as well as grass! Only 30% of agricultural land is arable, everything else is too steep or too wet or too high for growing anything but grass. If it weren’t for cattle and sheep, 70% of our agricultural land simply could not be used for food production. Vegans like George Monbiot argue that if we were to remove all sheep and cattle from the countryside the hills would soon be covered by forests. Unfortunately, that’s magical thinking and not what happens. Once grassland is no longer grazed it becomes patchy, soil gets exposed, leaving it open to erosion from wind and water. Now, torrential rain events increase the risk of mudslides, run off and flooding downstream.

That’s why well managed grazed grasslands not only contribute to food security, but remain one of our best tools in mitigating the climate crisis – they are carbon sink, flood insurance and drought prevention all in one.

 

 

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Marianne Landzettel is a journalist writing and blogging about food, farming and agricultural policies in the UK, the US, continental Europe and South Asia. She worked for the BBC World Service and German Public Radio for close to 30 years. Follow her on X at @M_Landzettel and m.landzettel on Instagram

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All photography in this article is copyright @M.Kunz