The theme of the conference is Sustainable Use of Grassland/Rangeland Resources for Improved Livelihoods. The Congress will be organized under seven thematic areas of rangeland and grassland research and development with a better balance between the people/social/policy and more traditional topics. The congress will cover 30 sessions each dealing with a particular aspect of grasslands/rangelands as listed below. The congress themes are:-
1) RANGELAND/GRASSLAND ECOLOGY
- Global processes of woody encroachment in rangelands: status, drivers, and impacts.
- Commons: old, current and future challenges for rangeland what innovations in collective issues to face these challenges.
- Savanna use and dynamics.
- Biodiversity, Ecosystem services.
- Rangeland degradation and Restoration.
- Rangeland monitoring and support systems.
- Community composition and ecological drivers.
- Ecohydrology and plant responses.
- Grazing, soil nutrient and properties.
- Grazers -plant communities interactions.
- Sustainable Land Use.
- Fire ecology, plant responses and management.
- Soil amendments and ecosystem productivity.
- Plant germplasm, recovery and biosecurity.
- Ecological trade-offs.
- Modeling and management of ecological systems.
- Participatory management, rangeland health.
- Remote sensing, risk analysis and land management.
- Participatory management, rangeland health
- Ecological relationships
2) FORAGE PRODUCTION AND UTILIZATION
- Tropical Forages Genetic Resources.
- Temperate/Tropical Transition Climate Zones: Locations for Breeding Forages with Climate Resiliency.
- Recent advances in Urochloa grass research in Kenya.
- Forage Genetics & Improvement.
- Forage Traits for Breeding.
- Forage Evaluation & Agronomy.
- Forage Seeds Systems Genetic Resources.
- Ruminant & Forages -Responses.
- Forages and Nitrogen Use.
- Evaluation of Dual Purpose Crops.
- Forage & Fodder Yields and Conservation.
- Forage and Animal Nutrition.
- Forage Stress and Treatments for Improvement.
- Forage Modeling and Meta- analysis.
- Forage Exploration and Value chain.
- Forages and Environment Improvement.
- Forage Planning and Management.
- Forage Management for Productivity and Nutrition.
- Forage Quality and Antinutritonal Factors.
3) LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION SYSTEMS
- Challenges on livestock production and rangelands/grasslands utilization in southern South America.
- Utilization of Grasslands/Rangelands.
- Sustainable Management of grasslands/Rangelands Ecosystems.
- Beef Production Systems.
- Integrated Crop and Pasture based Livestock Production Systems.
- Climate change; adaptations and resilience of Livestock systems
- Dairy Production Systems.
- Small Ruminants Production Systems.
- Social-Economics of Livestock Prodution Systems.
4) WILDLIFE, TOURISM AND MULTI-FACETS OF RANGELANDS/GRASSLANDS
- Forage legume ecosystem services in sustainable livestock systems.
- A Revolution in Conservation Innovation By and With Pastoralists: Examples from Kenya, Africa and the globe.
- Wildlife, Agriculture and Protected Areas.
- Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
- Ecosystem services and Ranching.
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5) DROUGHT MANAGEMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE IN RANGELANDS/GRASSLANDS
- Early warning, monitoring and management of drought – a global perspective.
- Droughts and degradation – social ecological perspectives on tipping points in dryland rangelands.
- Land use, Carbon Sequestration and GHG fluxes 1.
- Remote Sensing Applications for rangeland management.
- Climate Change Impacts.
- Mitigation, Adaptation & Resilience 1.
- Mitigation, Adaptation & Resilience 2.
- Land use, Carbon Sequestration and GHG fluxes 2.
- Water Stress & Water Use Efficiency
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6) PASTORALISM, SOCIAL, GENDER AND POLICY ISSUES
- Securing land tenure for pastoralists as an incentive for engaging actively in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
- Gender and Indigenous Perspectives for Sustainable Rangelands: Gendering and Decolonizing Pastoralist Studies and Rangeland Conservation Part 1.
- Gender and Indigenous Perspectives for Sustainable Rangelands: Gendering and Decolonizing Pastoralist Studies and Rangeland Conservation Part 2.
- Developing environmental services payments schemes for grasslands in China and Mongolia.
- Changes in rangeland property rights and land use in Central Asia and western China.
- Action Plan for the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists.
- Local knowledge, local and global action.
- Dynamic change and evolving pastoralism.
- Territory and Policy and Governance Reform.
- Investment, Infrastructure and Markets.
7) CAPACITY, INSTITUTIONS AND INNOVATIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN RANGELANDS/GRASSLANDS
- Accelerating the Use of Participatory Action Research for Development in Pastoral Lands: Challenges and Opportunities.
- Re-envisioning Rangelands in the 21st Century: Overcoming the Marginalization Narrative and Social-Ecological Mismatches.
- Participatory Socio-Ecological Observatories for Sustainable Rangeland Development.
- Communal and Collaborative Governance.
- Management, Land Use Planning & Ecosystem Services.
- Participatory Monitoring and Sylvopastoral Systems.
- Technological & Big Data Approaches to Decision-Support for Rangeland Management.