4PLANET IMPACT / ISSUE
Grassland and savanna loss
Conversion, inappropriate management and ecological simplification can degrade natural grasslands and savannas.
Why it matters
Natural grasslands and savannas support distinctive biodiversity and should not be treated as empty land available for afforestation.
What the sources establish
Land-use change and habitat conversion threaten biodiversity across terrestrial ecosystems, including natural grassland and savanna systems.
Projects working on it
- Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative — Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan
- Collaborative Rangelands Restoration in Jordan — Royal Botanic Garden of Jordan, Jordan
- Dryland Sustainable Landscapes Programme — Dryland Sustainable Landscapes programme partnership, Eleven countries across Africa and Asia
- Great Green Wall for Restoration & Peace — Pan-African Great Green Wall Agency, Sahel region of Africa, with the UN flagship profile focused particularly on Burkina Faso and Niger
- KSA National Greening Program — Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
- Restoring Brazil’s Cerrado Savannah — Araticum, Brazil
- Restoring Landscapes in South Africa (ReLISA) — ReLISA implementation partnership, South Africa
- Thicket Restoration in South Africa — Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa, South Africa
- Towards Ending Drought Emergencies (TWENDE) — International Union for Conservation of Nature, Eleven arid and semi-arid counties in Kenya
Organisations
- Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan
- Royal Botanic Garden of Jordan
- Dryland Sustainable Landscapes programme partnership
- Pan-African Great Green Wall Agency
- Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture of Saudi Arabia
- Araticum
- ReLISA implementation partnership
- Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa
- International Union for Conservation of Nature
Known and not established
- Tree planting is not automatically an appropriate restoration response in natural grassland and savanna ecosystems.
- This issue record is source-grounded context, not proof that any particular project, action or intervention is effective.
Sources
Truth boundary. Listing does not imply 4PLANET partnership or endorsement. Source-reported figures are not independently verified by 4PLANET. Delivery, outcome and verification remain separate states.
Approaches associated with this problem
- Steppe and grassland restoration — Restore and protect large connected steppe and grassland ecosystems while supporting native wildlife recovery.
- Community-based rangeland restoration — Restore degraded rangelands through community participation, sustainable grazing and combined scientific and traditional knowledge.
- Dryland landscape restoration — Restore degraded dryland mosaics of grassland, farmland and woody vegetation through locally adapted landscape restoration.
- Cerrado native-vegetation restoration — Restore native savannah vegetation through natural regeneration, direct seeding and agroforestry.
- Subtropical thicket restoration — Rehabilitate native subtropical thicket using indigenous vegetation including spekboom and landscape restoration practices.
Published by 4PLANET · Source-aware public record · How records are reviewed