Fragmentation of a peri-urban savanna, Athi-Kaputiei Plains, Kenya

Abstract

Many pastoral ecosystems around the globe are under pressure to produce more livestock or to make way for more intensive agricultural systems or new uses (Blench 2000). Some rangelands that used to be managed under communal land tenure are being privatized, with establishment of individual holdings; others are under state control (Galaty 1994). This is happening first in rangelands that receive more rainfall, are closer to urban centres, and/or contain significant key resources that are essential for successful crop cultivation (Galaty 1994). In these systems, pastoralists are either pushed onto more marginal lands for grazing or they begin to take up crop agriculture themselves, becoming agro-pastoralists (e.g., Campbell 1993, Campbell et al. 2003). One result is increased permanent settlement.