Tropentag 2022

The area near Tanzania’s Mount Meru is increasingly affected by drought. The Maasai herder, Paulo, must find creative ways to feed his family. In the morning, he seeks breakfast for his goats, so that they can produce milk for their own kids – and for Paulo’s young son.

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.

Canada’s native grasslands are disappearing at an alarming rate; they are one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world. This film – the result of collaboration between conservationists and local pastoralists (ranchers) – shows how cattle grazing still creates hope on what is left of these iconic landscapes for the plant and animal species that call them home.

Flocks are moved along the traditional livestock routes in Jaén Province, one of the last places in Spain where transhumance is still practised. The video shows the tremendous environmental, social, cultural and economic achievements of these mobile shepherds.

Dialogue between ecological scientist and three herders, who explain their sources of knowledge, their pasture management, the links between traditional livestock breeds and nature conservation, their interactions with conservationists, the effect of economic change on their livelihoods, future perspectives, how herders’ lives could be improved, and cooperation between herders and scientists.

Urmat and Aigul are traditional pastoralists in Kyrgyzstan. Their life depends on the health of their pasturelands and livestock, but they now have to deal with climate change. This is the story of how Urmat, Aigul and their community have been fighting against the clock to restore pastureland and counteract degradation in the face of extreme climate events.

The story of Hajekber Serikbol, leader of a pastoralist community in the western foothills of Mongolia, which calls itself the “friendship community”, this film shows these mobile herders’ respect for the environment, living with nature and facing climate-related hazards. Communal management of pasture and water resources is portrayed as key to the sustainability of their pastoral system.

Transhumant nomads in Turkey spend winter on the Mediterranean coastal plains and, in spring, move with their goats into the Taurus Mountains. However, the government, the military and landowners are constantly placing new obstacles in their path. The 63-year-old woman Pervin Savran leads the nomads’ fight for their rights to continue their traditional herding system and lifestyle.

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.

The Maasai herder, Lenina, represents the plight of an entire pastoralist community in northern Tanzania. The film depicts how Mkungunero Game Reserve has been encroaching on the pastoralists’ grazing areas and how this affects their lives.

This film follows the Paradas, a charismatic family of Argentinian gauchos who take their goats on transhumance between the lowlands and highlands, on their arduous journey through the High Andes. It captures their reflections on the threat that “progress” poses to their livelihood, on the parents’ uncertainty whether their children will keep up the generations-old family tradition, and on the beauty of their landscape. In both spoken word and song, different family members express their feeling about their pastoral life.