Bedouin and herder communities are among the poorest and most marginalized populations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. In the West Bank, an estimated 30,000 Bedouin live in 183 communities in Area C, under complete Israeli control. In the Gaza Strip, there are some 75,000 Bedouin living in 18 Bedouin communities, many in border areas where there are access restrictions enforced by the Israeli army. These communities suffer from lack of access to basic services and are some of the most marginalized in Gaza.

Better rangeland management would enable the available resources to be optimized and would increase the productivity of the agricultural sector, increasing food security under the existing constrained conditions. The aim of this paper is to describe the challenges facing rangeland management in the OPT and the possibilities for change.