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Shepherds of the XXIst century: increasing professionalism in the management of extensive livestock, wildfires and landscape in the era of global change

Funder: European CommissionProject code: 2018-1-ES01-KA202-050798
Funded under: ERASMUS+ | Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices | Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training Funder Contribution: 348,210 EUR

Shepherds of the XXIst century: increasing professionalism in the management of extensive livestock, wildfires and landscape in the era of global change

Description

Silvopastoralism is a common practice in Mediterranean socio-ecological systems, characterized by the presence of extensive livestock in forest areas. Consumption of vegetation from woodland ecosystems supplies goods and services to the society, such as high-quality food products or the management of forest biomass and the associated risk of wildfires. In the Mediterranean basin revalorization of silvopastoralism is particularly strategic, given the region is shaped by unmanaged forests under an increasing vulnerability to wildfires due to climate change. Because of this, a growing number of public administrations are implementing grazing livestock experiences for the control of forest understory fuel. At the same time, the number of farmers practicing extensive livestock is decreasing all over Europe. For this reason, in recent years professional education centers under the denomination of Shepherd Schools have been created, with the aim of training youngsters, originally or not from the agrarian sector, in the development of extensive farming projects, economically viable and adapted to 21st-century market needs. Nevertheless, low development of training in silvopastoralism for wildfire risk management has been detected, theoretically and practically. This project is born with the mission of generating a cooperation network between Shepherd Schools, shepherds, and administrations, for the exchange of good practices in silvopastoralism development. More specifically, the project targets designing and implementing a study module about silvopastoralism for the Shepherd Schools, and share successful experiences from the participating regions. A consortium with 15 members has been built, from France, Portugal, Spain, and Germany, including 5 academic members (shepherds and farmers schools) and 10 non-academic or lifelong partners. The methodology to apply is based on integrating the knowledge, expertise, and experience of all the partners with the objective of shaping a study module applicable in agriculture training centers. The methodology pursues the challenge of collecting and adding theoretical contents and practical cases, drawn from the international exchanges and the diversity of partners during short training programs, integrating different views and approaches to silvopastoralism and the management of landscapes and wildfires. The main expected result of the project is increasing the available training offer in silvopastoralism, promoting, therefore, the growth of its practice in forest fire risk contexts. At the same time, it is expected to increase professional farmers' skills and capacities in silvopastoralism based land management, and to analyze and document innovative public-private mechanisms fostering an interest on silvopastoralism, as a multifunctional tool with great benefits for society.

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