Rangelands and Forages Resources Development (Rationalization) Act of 2015.

This Law consisting of 21 articles divided in VI Chapters aims at (i) promoting the pasture land being a public natural resource; (ii) addressing the ravages that have a negative impact on its quality and quantity (such as fires, deforestation, overgrazing and expansion of unplanned agriculture); (iii) reducing the lack of adequate coordination between the bodies concerned with natural resources and the absence of an integrated plan to exploit the land; and (iv) avoiding the devastating environmental effects caused by erosion of the soil and the desert encroachment on the areas of pasture and agricultural land and the associated social shocks. Responsible body is the General Directorate of Pasture and Feed at the Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Range. The following are the pasture lands according to this Law (1) designated for improvement, study or investment purposes; (2) exploited jointly; (3) intended for specific purposes; and (iv) cultivated pastures (art.4).
Main tasks of the competent administration are as follows (i) reduce pasture degradation; (ii) increase production of the Rangelands; (iii) develop sound management in grazing areas; (iv) cultivate fodder using water harvesting techniques; (v) improve social and economic conditions of users of Rangelands; (vi) protect from overgrazing and develop productive capacities of grazing resources; (vii) maintain biodiversity and plant genetic resources; (viii) expand the establishment of natural and grazing reserves; (ix) developing agricultural systems depending on water harvesting techniques in the grazing areas; (x) monitor the environmental changes and combat desertification and develop the forage resources and improve its quality; (xi) increase public awareness of good behavior towards pasture; (xii) concentrate on production of irrigated pastures; (xiii) regulate water management and distribution according to livestock needs; (xiv) improve coordination between pastures and forests, mechanical agriculture and water resources; (xv) develop seed dispersal to improve range lands and diversity of vegetation cover; (xvi) establish fire control lines to protect pastures; (xvii) promote introduction of periodic, intensive and semi-intensive grazing methods to conserve the environment; (xviii) develop nomadic sector and rural agriculture; (xix) establish fees for the use of pasture lands; and (xx) specify the seeds of pasture and varieties allowed to enter Sudan in coordination with the competent authorities (art.8).
Article 12 specifies actions prohibited within the Rangelands, such as to graze (i) in the natural Rangelands determined by the competent administration during the period of protection and conservation; (ii) in the pastures dedicated to conducting studies and scientific researches; (iii) improved Rangelands during the growth period of the farmed plants and not officially opened for grazing. It is also banned the cultivation of pasture lands, remove trees without permit, harvest fodder and collect tree products, exploit water resources for purposes other than grazing, removal, or destruction, or change border mark, planting on the fire lines, enter noxious plants.
The competent administration gives the right to import, produce and distribute seeds of natural and irrigated feed resources and, in case of non desirable seeds, it may destroy them at the expense of the responsible person who shall bear any costs related to the destruction or reclamation of any damages resulting from the use of the harmful seeds on pasture lands (art.15). It is necessary to take into account the guidelines for pesticides with residual effect in the soil when used in grazing lands, pasture plant sites, near water resources or in the fallow areas and, in any case, it need to be notified of the location of the spraying of the pesticides within the pastures (art.18).
The VI Chapters of this Law are entitled as follows Preliminary Provisions, name of the Law and its commencement (I); Pasture lands and their management (II); Protection of rangeland, and paths' determination (III); Pasture lands and prohibited activities within the pastures (IV); Planting materials, grazing farms and control of agricultural and industrial waste; guidelines on use of pesticides; and rules to provide seeds and seedling forage resources (V); and General Provisions (VI).