Can Sustainable Pasture Management Improve the Ecosystem Services for Small Ruminant Farmers and Rural Communities? A Case Study from West Bekaa, Lebanon

Abstract

Rangelands represent the most extensive land cover type of the earth’s land area. They are natural ecosystems embracing genetic resources of microorganisms, animals and plants. Worldwide, rangelands’ diverse ecosystems provide a wide diversity of services: some can be traded within traditional market systems others have intangible values. Given the unavailability and outdated policies in Lebanon toward the importance of these services to sustain these ecosystems, rangeland management plans must be set to preserve their services.

This study assesses the ecosystem services of rangelands in the chosen villages of the West Bekaa, to propose management plans for the use of these services in a sustainable way allied with regulations for a sustainable management of the rangeland. This study was conducted in the West Bekaa, more specifically in the villages of Ammiq, Khorbet Qanafar, Ain Zebde, Saghbine,Bab Mareh, Aitanit and Machghara. Data was collected from the database of the Environment and Sustainable Development Unit (ESDU) at the American University of Beirut (AUB). Information was retrieved on livestock farming, history and current status in addition to uses, grazing routes and adaptation strategies. Furthermore, data was retrieved from database on perceived rangeland ecosystem services by people who forage edible plants as well as changes occurring throughout time, any regulations enforced by the municipalities towards grazing and rangeland managements. A case-study on pasture management plan was implemented in the West Bekaa to investigate the benefits it offers to the farmers and other stakeholders that were involved. Results show that shepherds are shifting to sedentary farming systems following the depletion of pastures and their farming cost is increasing making it hard to continue with their activities in the absence of governmental support. Concerning people who forage, their benefits from rangelands differ between the selling of products, household consumption, foraging, hunting and woodcutting. Local authorities knowledge that grazing is forbidden in the villages but is practiced illegally, therefore there is a need for sustainable rangeland management plans accompanied with policies to enforce these plans, some of which are recommended, with an assumption of improving ecosystem services for pasture users.