Investigation of indigenous knowledge of herders about livestock grazing management (Case study: Northern Khorasan province, Iran)

This study was conducted in northern Khorasan province to investigate the indigenous knowledge of herders about livestock grazing management. In this study, the statistical population included herders and elderly people who use the rangelands traditionally. In each tribe or village, three people were selected to do interview and complete the questionnaires. Data collection was conducted using interviews and questionnaires, as well as observing the herder's activities in the field. The Likert scale was used for scoring and quantitative evaluation of questions for the study species. Our results confirmed the wide knowledge of herders used in different aspects of livestock grazing management including livestock distribution and uniform utilization of rangeland, night grazing, selecting the resting and grazing place for livestock, segmentation of rangeland with traditional methods, and ensuring the safety of drinking water for livestock. On the other hand, results showed that, actually, herders paid little attention to observing livestock grazing capacity and preventing or reducing selective grazing.