A report from United Nations Food and Agriculture organization states that grasslands can prove to be saviors if managed properly. These grasslands can prove to be great carbon dioxide trappers thus helping to remove excessive quantities of this green house gas which leads to global warming.
Grasslands can not only help turn forces in the climate change battle but also help a billion people who are dependent on live stocks for earning their livelihoods. Grasslands can play a role greater than forests by turning into carbon sinks.
Livestock management on grasslands can help improve land productivity too, which in turn will lead to a better food security. Increasing demands of dairy and meat products has lead to soil degradation in about 70% of these pastures. Grasslands account for almost 70% of the earth’s agriculture land.
Constance Neely who has coauthored the report claims that live stock management can provide a three prong advantage to increase land productivity. The movement of live stock on land helps break the soil crust which enables plain water to seep through to the water table. Livestock provide manure in the form of dung and urine which help fertilize the soil further.
The report suggest that by reserving about 10% of the world’s grazing land for carbon sequestration management, a 184 million metric tons of carbon can be stored every year.
