The 2007 Annual Report of the League for Pastoral Peoples and Endogenous Livestock Development is now available here. The lead article describes the League's role in advocacy for Livestock Keepers' Rights. "Intellectual property rights on animal genetic resources are an issue that is now on the international agenda", says the report. "Due to the Livestock Keepers’ Rights movement, pastoralists and other livestock keepers will be seen as legitimate stakeholders with an interest in policy development regarding intellectual property rights on animal genetic resources. Much remains to ensure they are automatically involved in such decision making, but we are on the right road."

High fuel prices have boosted interest in growing crops such as jatropha on sparsely populated drylands. But these lands are not empty: they are home, and vital grazing, for millions of pastoralists around the world. This press release, issued on the World Day to Combat Desertification, draws attention to this new threat. Download 38 kb

"Pastoralists and small-scale livestock keepers are crucial to conserving farm animal genetic resources", says this poster, presented by LPP at the 13th meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice of the Convention on Biological Diversity, 18-22 Feb 2008 in Rome. The accompanying abstract, published in the CBD Technical Series 34, outlines the LIFE approach to documenting indigenous breeds, lobbying and advocacy for Livestock Keepers' Rights, and exploring value addition and marketing for livestock products. Download poster PDF, 473 kb Download abstract PDF, 371 kb

"How to destroy biodiversity in protected areas?" asks this poster. "Easy! Just ban traditional grazing there." Banning pastoralists from traditional grazing areas alters the balance of wildlife, making scarce species such as leopards, lions and bustards even scarcer. This poster by LPP's Ilse Koehler-Rollefson and Hanwant Singh Rathore of Indian partner Lokhit Palu-Pashak Sansthan, outlines how pastoralists are fighting such bans. It was prepared for the Working Group on Protected Areas on 11-15 February 2008 in Rome. Download poster 722 kb