Perspectives on Pastoralism in Brussels

Man-made climate change is creating conditions on our planet that are increasingly characterised by variability and unpredictability. Pastoralists use variability to their advantage. Their production systems guide us to a sustainable future. This video was created in support of the International Year of Rangelands & Pastoralists (IYRP) 2026.

Subtitles in Arabic, Catalan, Chinese, German, Hindi, Italian, Spanish and Mongolian).

Also available in French, Fulfulde, Swahili and Amharic

Scenario by Saverio Krätli, Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Belgium, Agrecol and Misereor; funded by Misereor and the Belgian Government; produced by Cartoonbase Belgium.

László Sáfián – born into a Hungarian family that has been herding for generations – explains how he, with his dog, manages close-herded grazing on a patchy semi-natural pasture. He speaks about the relationship between pasture and livestock, how he portions the pasture, and how he learnt and transmits this knowledge. This “slow film” documents traditional ecological knowledge of herders in their setting and at their pace, using herder–scientist dialogue about the fine-tuned decisions the herder made on this afternoon.

The Karamojong are herdsmen in the North-East of Uganda and guardians of their landscape. This film illustrates how the Karamojong herdsmen make productive use of the highly variable landscape, turning even the driest plant fibers into meat and milk, whilst simultaneously dealing with frequent animal disease outbreaks and intertribal conflicts in the region.

This film was produced in collaboration with a CELEP partner, DADO (Dodoth Agro-pastoral Development Organization). It is part of a documentary series ‘Herders – Guardians of the Earth’.

For hundreds of years, the Dhangar nomads have kept sheep on the Deccan Plateau in Maharashtra State, India. Their biggest problem was wolves, which they also worship, knowing full well that wolves will take a few animals each year, often the weakest. Now they face a new threat: climate change, bringing extreme weather events. The film traces the path of a few migratory families and the loss they felt when several animals died during unprecedented rains. The nomads ask government to take notice of their situation and create policies to protect their sheep and their livelihoods.

From inside his yurt in northern Mongolia, the reindeer herder Bayandalai ‒ an elder of the Dukhas tribe ‒ muses about the significance of life and death in the largest forest on Earth, the Taiga. Through his connection with the reindeer and with the Taiga, Bayandalai has access to spiritual truths and higher consciousness that he may not be able to pass on to his family members before the lures of city life — jobs, money, houses, things — entice them away.