James Robert Okoth
As we mark Earth Day 2026 under the theme “Our Power, Our Planet”, the global call to protect ecosystems and restore balance with nature finds a clear and practical expression in Pakistan’s rangelands.
In Pakistan, an estimated 60–70 percent of land area consists of rangelands. These landscapes sustain millions of livestock, support rural economies, and contribute to national food security, yet they remain some of the most overlooked and under funded parts of our agricultural system. With climate stress growing and water supplies under strain, this imbalance is neither smart nor sustainable.
Around the world, these landscapes carry the history of the people who have cherished them as homes for ages. Covering almost half of the planet’s unfrozen surface, they provide critical ecosystem services including biodiversity support, carbon storage, food production, and livelihood security for hundreds of millions of individuals, including ranchers and nomadic herders. Long overlooked despite their scale and significance, these ecosystems are at last beginning to receive the attention they deserve.
Responding to the requests of more than 100 countries, the United Nations has designated 2026 as the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists. This reflects a growing recognition, that these landscapes and the communities who manage them are at the heart of global efforts on climate, food security, and sustainable development.
Over the past several years, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Pakistan, in partnership with federal and provincial governments and institutions, has taken steps to put this recognition into concrete action.
In Sindh, the Strengthening Resilience of Agro-Pastoralists in Sindh (SRAS), funded by the European Union, provided a strong example of integrated resilience-building, supporting the restoration of degraded rangelands through indigenous planting and community-led management practices, helping to improve vegetation cover, sustain grazing systems, and strengthen long-term ecosystem resilience.
Complementing these efforts, FAO’s work on climate resilient agriculture and efficient water management places environmental sustainability at the centre of food system transformation. In the Indus Basin, improving water use efficiency through climate smart practices, water productivity assessments, and geospatial tools is helping reduce pressure on natural resources and limit environmental degradation. These approaches support more sustainable land and water management while enabling both irrigated and rangeland systems to adapt to increasing climate variability.
In irrigated agriculture, particularly rice based systems, climate smart practices are also contributing to low carbon agriculture. Improved water management and crop practices help reduce methane emissions from traditional flooded rice cultivation, while sustaining productivity under increasingly erratic climatic conditions. Together with rangeland based livestock systems, these approaches show that climate adaptation and mitigation can move forward together.
At the same time, FAO’s work is also demonstrating how ecosystem restoration can generate both environmental and economic benefits. In Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, initiatives focused on the sustainable management of Chilghoza pine forests are helping restore degraded landscapes while strengthening livelihoods. As a result of these interventions, vegetation cover increased by 20 percent through forest restoration efforts.
Value chain development and the promotion of local processing led to higher revenues for communities. Pine nuts were advanced toward registration as a Geographical Indication (GI) product, further enhancing their market value.
The increase in income from pine nuts encouraged communities to adopt more sustainable forest management practices. Building on these successes, the forest department and local communities began replicating these interventions using their own financial resource. All these steps are contributing to biodiversity conservation, increased incomes, and long-term climate resilience.
A critical dimension of this work has been the role of women. In agro-pastoral systems, women are central to resource use.
Through targeted training and participation in field schools, thousands of women improved their technical skills and decision-making roles, an essential step toward building inclusive climate-resilient rural systems.
However, one of the most important lessons from FAO’s work in Pakistan is that climate resilience cannot depend on response alone. In the context of increasing climate variability, anticipatory action, acting before a crisis unfolds, is becoming vital.
FAO has supported early warning systems and climate-informed planning that enable timely interventions ahead of climate events. By combining climate data, satellite analysis, and local knowledge, these systems allow for early action reducing losses before they occur.
This approach is reinforced through FAO’s support to shock-responsive social protection systems, ensuring that vulnerable households can access timely assistance when risks are identified,
rather than after livelihoods have already been eroded.
Across these initiatives, a clear message emerges: Pakistan’s climate resilience depends on integrated action across landscapes and food systems. From restoring rangelands and ecosystems to advancing climate resilient agriculture, low emission livestock and rice practices, nature based solutions, and efficient water management, these efforts show how healthy ecosystems underpin livelihoods, food security, and resilience to climate shocks.
Yet there remains significant opportunity to further strengthen the integration of these approaches within policy, planning, and investment frameworks. Earth Day is not only a moment for reflection, but a call to rethink how natural resources are valued and managed.
For Pakistan, this means investing in resilient, low carbon food systems, strengthening anticipatory action, and ensuring inclusive participation, particularly for women and youth.
By aligning environmental stewardship with economic opportunity, Pakistan can chart a more resilient, sustainable, and food secure future.—James Robert Okoth is Officer-in-Charge, FAO Pakistan
