When it comes to storing carbon, alpine peatlands are powerhouses. But feral horse grazing and trampling tips the carbon balance in the other direction. We need to protect and restore our peatlands.
Rangelands provide a wealth of ecosystem services and support rural economies while harbouring native biodiversity.
Courtesy Rauri Alcock
Planting millions of trees in natural grassland is largely ineffective in the battle against global warming because it adds little or no additional carbon storage.
Cattle are major producers of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano
Cattle are major producers of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. But there are methods that can reduce their climate impact – if ranchers have incentive to use them.
Solar panels shade grassland at Jack’s Solar Garden, an agrovoltaic farm in Longmont, Colo.
Matthew Sturchio
As Chile’s central mountain region warms, guanacos are wandering into trouble.
Sonoma County, California hired this herd of sheep from Sweetgrass Grazing to reduce invasive plants and flammable fuels and make room for native plants on protected land.
Sonoma Open Space
A new generation of ranchers is exploring sustainable ways to raise cattle, sheep and goats in California. Some are grazing herds on fire-prone lands, reducing wildfire risks and improving soils.
Nature and technology can combine to help farms of the future nourish the earth and its inhabitants.
SimplyDay/Shutterstock
Rural Westerners have been stereotyped as angry ranchers who hate government. But for every gun-wielding militia member, there are many others who work collaboratively to protect what they value.
A farmer plows a dry and dusty cotton field near Phoenix, Ariz., while a drought affects the Southwest.
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)