Review of Evidence on Drylands Pastoral Systems and Climate Change: Implications and Opportunities for Mitigation and Adaptation
This report highlights the importance of drylands, grazing lands and livestock-based livelihoods and illustrates their relationship with climate and with climate mitigation through the adoption of methodologies to restore soil. The editors write “There is a great potential for carbon sequestration in drylands because of their large extent and because substantial historic carbon losses mean that drylands soils are now far from saturation (FAO/LEAD, 2006). Lal (2004) estimates that soil carbon sequestration in the dryland ecosystems could achieve about 1 billion tonnes C per year but reaching this will require a vigorous and coordinated effort at a global scale.” It should be noted that more recent studies suggest that the drawdown potential might be higher.
