At GLF Africa 2026 in Nairobi, conversations around restoration repeatedly returned to one central idea: healthy rangelands cannot exist without the people who know, manage, and live within them.

Held at the CIFOR-ICRAF campus during the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP 2026), the conference brought together researchers, pastoralist leaders, restoration practitioners, policymakers, and youth advocates to explore the future of Africa’s landscapes in the face of climate uncertainty, biodiversity loss, and land degradation.

Across global rangelands, livestock move slowly through open landscapes, following rainfall patterns that have shaped ecosystems for generations. To some, these lands appear empty or degraded. But at last week’s GLF Africa 2026 conference in Nairobi, hosted at CIFOR-ICRAF, one message rang clear: rangelands are living systems essential to the future of climate resilience, biodiversity, food security, and soil health.

Held during the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP 2026), the conference brought together pastoralist leaders, scientists, policymakers, youth advocates, investors, and restoration practitioners from around the world to rethink how rangelands are valued - and who is included in shaping their future.

For young people, the message was impossible to ignore: this conversation belongs to you too.

Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH) #Youth4Soil member Lordesturs Gordon attended the conference on behalf of the Coalition, documenting the discussions, experiences, and key themes emerging from the conference through a youth perspective.

The international soil conference ‘Partners for Change - SOILutions for a Food Secure, Resilient, and Sustainable Future’ brought together almost 150 different stakeholders in Berlin from 20 to 22 May. Its aim: to take stock of existing conservation programmes and pave the way for the future.