Already in 2025, herders in several countries in Europe started preparing for a major policy-lobbying event aimed at the European Parliament and the European Commission. On 25 January 2026, German herders had a herder’s crook blessed at a church service during the Grüne Woche (Green Week Agricultural Fair) in Berlin. This crook has been travelling across Brandenburg and several other German States – passed from one herder to another – on its way to Brussels. It serves as a physical link between numerous events in Germany and the Netherlands as points in the Hirtenzug (Herders’ March). Dutch herders have also dedicated their annual Wool March to the IYRP2026.
On 28 September, a Dutch shepherd hands the crook over to Belgian colleagues at the border to Belgium. From then until 13 October, Belgian herders Toon and Johan Schouteden will walk a flock of around 300 sheep from the border on to Brussels, in the final leg of the Herders’ March. They will be joined throughout this leg by Loupa Pius, a pastoralist from Karamoja, Uganda, bringing an East African perspective to the March and highlighting the shared challenges and experiences of pastoralists across different regions of the world.
Along the route, members of the public are invited to meet the herders, walk alongside the flock and learn more about the role of pastoralism in managing rangelands and open landscapes, supporting biodiversity and contributing to resilient food systems.
The Herders' March will end on 13 October at the Bois de la Cambre (city park) in Brussels, where herders (including several more joining from other countries) will meet with European policymakers. In the park will also be booths on various topics related to grazing animals, pastoralists, rangelands and the future agricultural policy in the European Union.
After the opening ceremony and welcoming remarks by, among others, Khalid Zianwird, Deputy Mayor of the City of Brussels, and Francesca Pasetti, Co-Chair of the European Regional Support Group for the IYRP2026, there will be a panel discussion with representatives from the European Parliament and the European Commission.
But the herders don’t stop there. After the lobbying event in Brussels, the shepherd’s crook will be taken to the traditional Lukas Market in Mayen in the German State of Rhineland-Palatinate, and then the German Herders’ March will continue through the State of Hesse. It will end at a major agricultural trade show (EuroTier) in mid-November in Hanover, Lower Saxony.
Organised in the context of the IYRP2026, the European Herders' March connects pastoralists across borders and draws attention to the importance of recognising their knowledge, rights and role in the sustainable management of rangelands. The March has also managed to bring together numerous organisations in agriculture and environmental protection under the banner of the IYRP – a feat in itself, as there are often conflicts between these sectors.
The herders are looking beyond 2026, when the IYRP will be over but the herders’ concerns and the threats to their pasturelands will continue. Funding for agriculture in Europe has become scarce, and there is strong competition for support under the European agricultural policy now being developed. The herders seek a solid plan for the future of pastoralism in Europe.
See also the films about the European Herders’ March under Rangeland Voices: https://iyrp.info/europe
