Towards an effective cattle grazing and rearing legal framework: an imperative for environmental protection

Abstract

When scholars write about environmental degradation in their publications, they hardly mention cattle grazing and rearing as one of its causes. Nevertheless, this activity, which has impacted the environment adversely, is a direct cause of land degradation, threatens the resources and ecosystem’s services that biodiversity provides, and is a threat to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 15. Livestock pastoralism has intensified in Nigeria in recent times, leading to greater environmental concerns and conflicts over access to natural resources. A close scrutiny of Nigeria’s municipal laws shows the absence of any statute that provides for the protection of the environment from this economic activity except the recent anti-open grazing laws enacted by some states. This seems to account for the unsustainable management of cattle grazing lands among other factors. The recent conflicts, killings and destruction of properties between herdsmen and farmers in Nigeria is one of the consequences of ineffective management of access to natural resources (land) and an ineffective regulatory framework for addressing the environmental degradation resulting from unregulated grazing, which are both exacerbated by climate change. An effective cattle grazing legal framework, it is argued, is imperative to complement existing environmental laws in addressing the environmental challenges occasioned by cattle grazing and ongoing tensions.

Key words: Nomadic Pastoralism, Pastoralist, Transhumance, Ranching, Grazing Reserve