The following article, written by Samuel Fonseca de Carvalho, is part of a series of reflections on the upcoming International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) World Conservation Congress to be held in Abu Dhabi, October 2025. The series entitled “Classroom to Congress” examines proposed motions by the Global Center for Environmental Legal Studies (GCELS) at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University on a variety of environmental issues to be decided at the Congress.
Grasslands and savannahs have economic, ecological, and cultural value in our world, covering 54% of terrestrial landscapes. Nevertheless, this ecosystem type experiences one of the highest rates of conversion and degradation. According to the IUCN, fragmentation has undermined essential ecosystem functions, including carbon storage, water regulation, food production, and support for cultural practices.
Grasslands are crucial to addressing climate change, as this ecosystem stores roughly one-third of global terrestrial carbon stocks and provides climate resilience to droughts, heatwaves, and wildfires. They also play an important role in safeguarding the livelihoods and food security of many communities around the globe while guaranteeing valuable resources such as energy and wildlife habitat.
Furthermore, it is important to highlight that grasslands are home to many Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs), and the conservation of this ecosystem is crucial to ensure IPLCs’ livelihoods, cultures, and traditions, which are strongly linked to the ecosystem. Moreover, IPLCs managing grassland-reliant production systems provide relevant examples of sustainable approaches that can be learned from.
Challenges in protecting and restoring diverse native grasslands
According to the IUCN, there are significant challenges in protecting and restoring grassland ecosystems, which include a lack of policy recognition, unified standards regarding grassland degradation, public and private cooperation, and funding constraints.
First, despite grasslands’ substantial extension in the terrestrial landscape, they are often ignored in national climate and biodiversity plans, especially considering that only 10% of countries’ nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement address grasslands, while 70% include reference to forests.
Secondly, there is a lack of unified standards to assess grassland degradation, as well as specific data and monitoring guidance on the condition of grasslands, which can limit the development and effectiveness of interventions aimed at protecting, restoring, and sustainably managing them. Without standardized methodologies, it is difficult to access successful case studies and integrate traditional knowledge with science-based decision-making.
Third, it is crucial to involve property owners as grassland protectors, taking into account that their involvement enables immediate habitat protection. For example, American Prairie is building a vast, connected landscape of public and private lands in Montana’s Northern Great Plains. Once completed, the project will span over 3.2 million acres, an area roughly the size of Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks combined, providing one continuous landscape where native wildlife can thrive and natural processes can unfold. Through a blend of land acquisition, collaborative partnerships with local ranchers, innovative philanthropy, and science-based restoration, American Prairie aims to conserve a comprehensive suite of native biodiversity while providing public access for education and enjoyment.
Finally, funding constraints with respect to grassland protection and restoration are another significant challenge, as the value of the services this ecosystem type provides remains overlooked. Generally, public and private investments focus on projects that can provide direct material goods and revenue streams while disregarding the benefits that can be derived from grasslands. In this context, long-term funding is needed to ensure sustainable financing of grassland conservation and restoration projects to preserve the valuable services this ecosystem type provides.
Against this background, overcoming the abovementioned challenges is critical for the future of grasslands and our fight against climate change. In this sense, Motion 005 intends to address these issues and provide meaningful solutions on how IUCN can support this goal.
How Motion 005 Addresses Grassland Conservation Challenges
Among other dispositions, Motion 005:
- Encourages IUCN Commissions to identify and map natural grasslands to improve knowledge on the distribution, age, and degree of naturalness and conservation;
- Urges IUCN constituents to cooperate with the leading regional grasslands conservation organizations to conserve mostly intact temperate grasslands;
- Urges States and international organizations to facilitate capacity building, knowledge exchange, and public-private collaboration for wildlife restoration on private conservation lands, to encourage landscape-scale restoration and the sustainable, collaborative management of temperate grassland habitat, biodiversity, and ecosystem services, with a specific focus on protecting climate-threatened grasslands and implementing long-term management for degraded grassland restoration;
- Calls upon local authorities to recognize the benefits of preserving remnant grasslands and restoring their biodiversity and wildlife abundance amidst areas already converted to development and other uses;
- Urges the provision of financial support for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, non-governmental organizations, and State and local agencies engaged in temperate grassland restoration and conservation efforts; and
- Calls upon States and grassland managers to effectively rewild, conserve, and manage natural grasslands; support local, community-based approaches and collaborative partnerships to protect these designated grasslands from intensive agricultural practices; develop and implement appropriate and sustainable farming management systems; and strengthen protection of climate-threatened grasslands.
The IUCN Motion Process
The Motion garnered support from more than fifteen IUCN Members[1], who share the vision of the urgent need to protect grasslands, and it continues to gain support from other IUCN members. The Motion has successfully passed review by the Motions Working Group and is now available to be voted on through the IUCN e-vote process, which is available from August 27 to September 10. We hope to continue receiving further support for this important issue and to have it approved by the end of the voting period.
Conclusion
Grasslands are an essential ecosystem for our world’s economic, ecological, and cultural values, as well as a powerful tool in the fight against climate change. Yet, this ecosystem experiences high rates of degradation, remains overlooked in national climate and biodiversity plans, and lacks unified standards regarding grassland degradation, public and private cooperation, and funding. As a result, Motion 005 proposes to address these challenges by providing meaningful solutions on how IUCN can support grassland conservation and restoration. The Motion is currently available to be voted on through the IUCN e-vote process and hopefully will be accepted as a new policy for the organization.
[1] IUCN Member proponents and co-sponsors: Center for Environmental Legal Studies (USA), Noé (France), Rewilding Europe (Netherlands), Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (Mexico), Environmental Law Institute (USA), Environmental Law Program at the William S. Richardson School of Law (USA), A Rocha Ghana (Ghana), Ajemalebu Self Help (Cameroon), Association Française des Entreprises pour l’Environnement (France), Bioparc Conservation (France), Département des Bouches-du-Rhône (France), Fondo de Agua para Lima y Callao (Peru), France Nature Environnement (France), Fundación Global Nature (Spain), Fédération des conservatoires d’espaces naturels (France), Fédération des parcs naturels régionaux de France (France), HUTAN (France), and Ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires étrangères (France).