Es important to understand that extensive grazing not only produces meat and milk for consumptionbut it provides a whole range of ecosystem services to the landscape and the action of animals is excellent for preventing future fires forestry.
As for the races used for grazing and extensive livestock, Ideally, they are native breeds that are accustomed to weather and local characteristics of the land and feed on the herbs that the earth offers them.
The Intian public society, attached to the Department of Rural Development and Environment, has presented today the results of the Sustainable Pasture Pilot Project which allows silvopastoreo through virtual fences and management of pyreneic beef through digital devices. As the project results show, through this management, the impulse of extensive livestock with native breeds is favored, the improvement of the quality of life and profitability of the farms, as well as the prevention of fires.
Los Results have been announced within the framework of a day organized by Intia And that has begun with the welcome of the managing director of this public society, Natalia Bellotas. In turn, the mayor of the City Council of Oloriz, Raúl León; and the representative of the Pyrenean cattle association, Patxi Aranguren, together with the technicians of Intia, Vicente Ferrer and Jesús Ochoa.
This project, which began in July 2023, arises from the need to reduce the accumulation of plant fuel generated in recent decades due to the abandonment of traditional mountains of the mountains that, in addition, is causing the homogenization of the landscape and the loss of biodiversitywith the consequent increase in fire risk.
The livestock sector of the Valdorba has actively collaborated in the project exploring, in a demonstrative way and in real conditions, the implementation of extensive grazing for environmental purposes that allows minimizing the fire risk and guarantee the preservation of other ecosystem services. In turn, he has sought to offer solutions based on innovative technological tools for grazing livestock management, specifically, with an evaluation of the operation of virtual fences.
The intervention has been carried out in the mountains of three of the councils of the municipality (Soloriz, Mendivil and Echagüe) adapting the management to the environmental conditions of each place and the available cattle (beef, sheep and/or goat). Prior to grazing They performed some actions such as scrub debrio for the creation of open areas or the placement of abbreviations and fences to facilitate the management of livestock and the creation of complaints.
Virtual fence for extensive livestock
Bowl cattle have been handled using the virtual fence system, which has allowed greater rotation of cattle between areas and has facilitated the daily work of farmers. In addition, on some occasions, complementary feeding to the minor cattle has been provided, which facilitates the increase in the most lignified vegetation intake, favoring the reduction of plant fuel.
The virtual fence is a technology in which through a device that is placed to the animal, as a cowbell, and a software application (app) allows the generation of virtually delimited enclosures from the smartphone or laptop of the livestock or livestock, in real time. When the animal exceeds the limit of These enclosures receive a deterrent signal, first Sonora And if a slight electric pulse continues, in order to get back. These stimuli cease if the animal returns inside the fence or if it escapes it. The livestock or livestock receives continuous information about the location of their animals and escape alerts.
The main benefits attributed to this technology consist of savings in physical fences, and the reduction of labor. It is also a very flexible technologywhich allows delimiting and taking advantage of areas That, for example, cannot be physically fenced, facilitating grazing management in both rotational systems and more extensive handling.
Country landscapes
In the words of Vicente Ferrer, Intia technician, “this system can be a tool of great help in landscape management, protected areas, habitats of high ecological value, for the reduction of plant fuel through the directed handling of cattle and, therefore, in fire prevention”.
As indicated in his speech, Raúl León, mayor of Olóriz, “for the municipality it is interesting to put in common this type of livestock practices and technological tools they have as a goal to contribute to forest fire prevention by controlling combustible vegetation”.
To this we must add that this project aims to facilitate directed management of the territory to achieve open landscapes in mosaic, The conservation of biodiversity including that of native livestock racesand the production of local quality products. In short, favor the generation of so -called ecosystem services or benefits that ecosystems seek to society.
Native breeds adapted to the environment
“The native races of cattle have been doing this work for centuries and are the fruit of the selection of animals that have best been adapted to the environment in a certain territory,” said Patxi Aranguren de Aspina, who recalled that “the native Pyrenean race is one of the oldest and is totally adapted to the environment, therefore, therefore, guarantees greater use of passion”.
The “Development and evaluation of a sustainable grazing model in the communal pastures of Navarra” is funded by the Rural Development Program of the 2014-2020 Foral Community within the measure 16.2 “Support for pilot projects and for the development of new products, practices, processes and technologies” and is co-financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: “Europe invests in rural areas”And the Government of Navarra.