Silvopastoral systems as a tool for territorial sustainability and biodiversity
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abstract
Rural and livestock population evolution in the inner north of Portugal
has demonstrated a great regression with consequences for environment and nature
conservation. In this context, and taking into account that pastoral activity has
shaped the natural areas of mountain territories since its beginning and that territories
are currently part of Natura 2000 network, rethinking the importance of such
activity has become vital. The constraints affecting daily tasks performed by shepherds
and livestock breeders as well as the installed social segregation are a strong
limitation. However, current research developed in the context of nature conservation
has demonstrated the importance of the landscape mosaic promoted by grazing
in the preservation of priority habitats. In this way, it is urgent to assess the issue of
shepherds and livestock breeders’ image in terms of their roles, relationships and
concerns, as well as to assess pastoralism socioeconomics in regard to self-consumption,
market and rural self-sufficiency. In this perspective, this work
presents an analysis of the adaptation of grazing to current times, perceiving its
limitations and success potential.
This work is supported by European Structural and Investment Funds,
FEDER component, through the Operational Competitiveness and Internationalization Programme
(COMPETE 2020) [Project No. 006971 (UID/SOC/04011)], and national funds, through FCT,
Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under project UID/SOC/04011/2013.
