FAQs
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The Herding for Health Model was developed through rigorous science and adapted based on the most up-to-date scientific findings.
The Herding for Health model 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.
The H4H Model was developed in 2008, while the Program Partnership between the Peace Parks Foundation and Conservation International to roll out the Model was formalised in 2017.
The vast and highly biodiverse savannas, grasslands and shrublands of southern Africa are crucial for people and nature. They support more than 50 million indigenous and local pastoralists, offer habitats for iconic wildlife and store large quantities of planet-warming carbon. But half of Africa’s native rangelands are degraded due to encroaching settlements, land tenure policies, climate change and overgrazing. As a result, land degradation and the loss of wildlife are on the rise.
The Herding for Health model has been successfully tested across all key rangeland ecosystems (semi-arid shrublands, mountain grasslands, and subtropical savannas) and is now being applied to restore and improve the management of 7 million hectares of rangelands across seven countries in Africa, supported by USD150 million in site-based investments.
One of the key mechanisms in implementing Herding for Health is voluntary stewardship agreements signed with communities as the custodians of the land. Pastoralist communities voluntarily commit to implementing planned grazing of their livestock to minimize overgrazing, remove invasive vegetation that hampers grass growth and water availability, and adopt wildlife-friendly practices, among other measures. In turn, they receive support to improve the quality of their livestock, reduce animal losses from wildlife predators and diseases, and access facilitated livestock markets, among other benefits.