HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MAIN CHAPTERS

Grasslands
Grasslands are the world’s largest and most widespread terrestrial ecosystem, covering 5,25 billion
hectares, of which two-thirds are farmed. The grassland chapter takes the reader through all continents, focusing on the East and South African grasslands, the Indo-Gangetic Plains, the Eurasian steppe, the European grasslands, the North American prairies, the South American pampas, the Patagonian steppe and the Australian rangelands. Specifically highlighted are bustards, vultures and geese.

In separate boxes, we encounter promising initiatives for Sharpe’s longclaw in Kenya, cranes in South Africa, the sociable lapwing in Kazakhstan, the northern bald ibis in Syria, swans and cranes in Chinese grasslands, the black-tailed godwit in the Netherlands, the burrowing owl in Canada (see below), the blue-throated macaw in Bolivia, the bobolink which migrates between North and South America and the plains-wanderer in Australia.