As Mongolia Hosts COP17, Pastoralists Demand Space to Move, Survive and Restore

As Mongolia Hosts COP17, Pastoralists Demand Space to Move, Survive and Restore

After moving more than 6,000 km across Eurasia, the Silk Road Caravan has reached Mongolia with stories from pastoralists whose livelihoods are increasingly threatened by drought, degraded land and shrinking access to grazing areas. Since leaving Türkiye in May, the thud of horse hooves has echoed through landscapes in the Russian Federation, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan […]

Pastoralists gather in Mongolia for the UN Desertification conference

Today, COP17 of the UNCCD (UN Convention to Combat Desertification) kicks off in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Top of the agenda is how to manage rangelands that support millions of pastoralists worldwide in sustainable ways. 2026 is the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP), and the global gathering of pastoralists has just concluded. Many pastoralists and allies will be present at the COP, making the case for a new perspective on p…