The Department of Rural Development and the Environment, through the public company INTIA, has launched the campaign ‘Pastoring against fire’ with the aim of highlighting the role played by extensive livestock in Navarra in controlling forest fires. INTIA has produced a series of videos that show specific cases that occurred during the fires last June, and in which the positive effect of grazing to stop the advance of the flames is appreciated.
The campaign collects first-person testimonies from the livestock sector in the affected areas, complemented by technical explanations offered by professionals from INTIA and Navarra livestock associations.
The videos show how the fire was stopped in the land occupied by cattle
The videos show the consequences of the fires that last June affected cultivated areas and trees in different areas of Navarra, and how the fire came to a halt in those lands that had been occupied by cattle.
In this way, the effect produced by extensive livestock farming is visible to the extent that the animals eat the fresh vegetation that comes out in spring, which will be the one that ultimately dries up in summer and can contribute to the development of the flames. The herds thus maintain a low fuel load, make the territory more resistant to the spread of the fire and constitute, in short, a form of active prevention.
The herds thus maintain a low fuel load, make the territory more resistant to the spread of the fire and constitute, in short, a form of active prevention.
“What is fuel for the fire, is food for the cattle,” says Jesús Ochoa, INTIA’s livestock advisory technician, who has collaborated in the campaign to demonstrate that grazing and extensive livestock farming represent an effective strategy for the control of fires. “We must take full advantage of the potential of grazing, due to its enormous capacity to control the growth of bushes, it contributes to biodiversity, allows less mechanical clearing and constitutes a social prevention tool due to the impact that fires have on the environment. and the inhabited areas”, indicates Ochoa.
Collaboration
The campaign has the collaboration of the LIFE-IP NAdapta-CC project, an integrated strategy for adaptation to Climate Change of the Government of Navarra, since a territory that promotes extensive livestock farming is more resistant to the spread of forest fires, has greater biodiversity and is better adapted to change.
More information in this link.
