Conserving grasslands

Grasslands are an overlooked and poorly protected habitat even though semi-natural and managed grassland covers a significant proportion of the world's land area. A major concern is the decline in species richness as agriculture intensifies and native grasslands are fragmented.

Savannahs, the richest grasslands in the world, are the most extensive ecosystem in Africa. They support many indigenous plants and animals as well as the world's largest concentration of large mammals such as elephants, buffalo, rhinoceros, giraffes, lions, leopards, cheetah, zebras, hippopotami, kudus, waterbucks and oryx.