Herding for Health celebrates five years in Limpopo National Park

This August, Conservation International and Peace Parks Foundation celebrate five years of Herding for Health in Mozambique’s Limpopo National Park (LNP). The programme rewarded 25 Herding for Health champions who have been part of this incredible community upliftment and landscape restoration project since the beginning.

“We are celebrating the fact that the Limpopo National Park Herding for Health project has been in this landscape for five years, positively impacting the livelihood of 20 communities, 5 375 beneficiaries, and 20 000 cattle. A very impactful project indeed

Kobus Haveman, Head of Operations and Development in Limpopo National Park

At the event, communities were invited to see the Herding for Health model in action as cattle were kraaled in a mobile boma, moved through the crush and then weighed using a mobile scale. Through raising awareness of the project amongst the people living in the landscape, more farmers will join the programme increasing its reach and deepening its impact.  

Herding for Health in LNP

Before Herding for Health was implemented in this region, the cattle were travelling up to 20 km from the village before they reached the first grass every day. Herders were also losing many cattle to predators.  

Today, professional herders are strategically herding cattle according to a grazing plan to reach under-utilised areas, thereby resting overgrazed areas. By kraaling the cattle in mobile bomas at night, the earth is fertilised which helps regenerate degraded bare ground while protecting the cattle from predators at night. The bomas stay in place for two weeks and when they are moved, seeds are distributed on the manure-rich ground, thus stimulating regrowth of natural vegetation.  
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On behalf of the entire Herding for Health team, I would like to express our satisfaction and gratitude for the unique gesture of having valued the date, valued the pioneering team, valued everyone’s effort and contribution to everything that is our reality and for knowing that our existence is justified by our activities

Delcio Juliao, Project Implementing Manager for Herding for Health in Limpopo National Park
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About Herding for Health

The Herding for Health model was initially developed to address various challenges in nature conservation and community development in areas of high biodiversity importance.  

The Herding for Health programme is a community-driven livestock management model that supports the livelihoods of rural communities living in and around protected areas, while restoring rangelands and conserving biodiversity through herding, capacity building and collective governance. Herding for Health champions community-driven participation and sustainable native rangeland management through rotational grazing and kraaling, led by professional herders.

“This is a way of doing things that honours the whole system — people, livestock, wildlife and plants all thriving together,” said Julia Levin, who leads Conservation South Africa, an affiliate member of Conservation International. “But it’s important to remember that no one invented this model — this is simply what African pastoralism looks like in its most innate form.”  

Some Herding for Health sites started with the aim to develop a mechanism to address human-wildlife conflict, especially the retaliation killings of large predators that preyed on livestock. Other sites evolved more around the challenging trade barriers that hindered economic opportunities for communities living next to protected areas where, for instance, foot and mouth disease transmitted from wildlife to livestock is an eminent risk.  

In addition to addressing site-specific issues, the core aim of the Herding for Health model is to support both people and wildlife to thrive using strategic livestock management, informed by traditional knowledge and science, to restore ecosystem function and halt land degradation.
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This article is republished from Peace Parks Foundation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.