Natural Resources and Watershed Management Organization

The first preparatory meeting for the International Year of Rangeland and Pastoralists (IYRP) was attended by Dr. Hossein Badripour, Deputy Director of the Public Relations and International Affairs Bureau and member of the International Support Group for the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists and Chair of the Middle East and North Africa Region  ( MENA ) of that support group was held at Rangeland Affairs Bureau of NRWO on Sunday, May 7. In this meeting, which was held at the invitation of Eng. Tarahhom Behzad, Director General of the Rangeland Affairs Bureau, which is the key stakeholder for the follow-up of the above year, the deputies and experts of Rangeland Affairs Bureau were also present and exchanged their views.

The first preparatory meeting for the International Year of Rangeland and Pastoralists (IYRP, 2026) was attended by Dr. Hossein Badripour, Deputy Director of the Public Relations and International Affairs Bureau and member of the International Support Group for the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists and Chair of the  MENA  Region of that support group was held at Rangeland Affairs Bureau of NRWO on Sunday, May 7. In this meeting, which was held at the invitation of Eng. Tarahhom Behzad, Director General of the Rangeland Affairs Bureau, which is the key stakeholder for the follow-up of the above year, the deputies and experts of Rangeland Affairs Bureau were also present and exchanged their views.

In this meeting, Dr. Badripour had a brief overview of his four years of pursuit at the international and national level until the point of the approval of naming 2026 as the International Year of Rangeland and Pastoralists (IYRP). It is worth noting that with the support of 102 countries, the UN General Assembly on February 28, 2022, in a resolution officially  named 2026 as IYRP with the  aim of  paying attention to these issues,  highlighting the important role of healthy rangelands in the creation of a sustainable environment, economic growth and resilient livelihoods for communities around the world.

He added that the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), as the relevant specialized agency, has been introduced by the United Nations to follow up International Year of Rangeland and Pastoralists (IYRP). In general, the purpose of the International Year of Rangeland and Pastoralists (IYRP) is to sensitize the community and adopt improved policies and strategies to protect rangelands and improve the living conditions of livestock farmers.

It should be noted that the naming of this year is due to the efforts of Kenya and Mongolia. Kenya struggled to send its proposal for International Year of Rangelands to UN General Assembly (UNGA) but it failedbut after a short break, Mongolia went through the process with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. During the negotiations, it was requested that pastoralists be included in the Mongolian proposal  along with rangelands. In order to have the proposal formally sent to the UN General Assembly for  approval, one of the UN Specialized agencies should be involved. In this case, FAO was identified to be involved.  FAO Director-General required the approval of the proposal before sending the preproposal to the President of the UN General Assembly.

In this case, the following steps were passed:

The Committee on Agriculture (COAG) (September, 2020)

FAO Council (December, 2020)

FAO Conference (June, 2021)

 At the end of the meeting it was decided that Rangeland Affairs Bureau draft letters to send them to key stakeholders i.e. Research Institute for Forests and Rangelands (RIFR); Department of Livestock production and Mobile Pastoralists Organizations, Society for Range Management, Syndicate of Rangeland Exploiters and Active concerned NGOs to introduce their nominees.

When Rangeland Affairs Bureau collected the names, the first meeting will be organized to discuss the issue and develop the program for IYRP at the national level.