A recent study carried out in the European Mediterranean areas highlights that silvopasture is an important practice across the Mediterranean region where most of the policy measures related to silvopasture are adapted to the local necessity. The already existing agroforestry managed land (dehesas/montado) are related to measures supporting regeneration and maintenance while in those areas where agroforestry does not exist the measures are related to forest fire prevention.
The study entitled “Silvopasture policy promotion in European Mediterranean areas” in which researchers from Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece have participated was published in the Plos One journal. The main aim of this study was to evaluate from Eurostat, LUCAS database and the 118 rural development programs, the current situation of permanent grasslands in the Mediterranean area of Europe as well as the rural development programmes fostering silvopasture to better understand how sustainable land use systems are promoted and provide insights to foster silvopasture across Europe.
The study concludes that in the Mediterranean region silvopasture is mainly associated with oaklands, but also present in permanent crops (olive) in some areas. The extent of silvopasture is high in the west part of the Iberian Peninsula where the share of public land is low as financial benefits are obtained from the land. However, most of the regions have a low extent of silvopasture and can be linked to a high (intensive agriculture) and low (abandonment) anthropogenic pressure. Most of the policy measures related to silvopasture are adapted to the local necessity. The already existing agroforestry managed land (dehesas/montado) are related to measures supporting regeneration and maintenance while in those areas where agroforestry does not exist the measures are related to forest fire prevention.
Full reference: Rodríguez-Rigueiro FJ, Santiago-Freijanes JJ, Mosquera-Losada MR, Castro M, Silva-Losada P, Pisanelli A, et al. (2021) Silvopasture policy promotion in European Mediterranean areas. PLoS ONE 16(1): e0245846. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245846
For more information please contact María Rosa Mosquera-Losada (mrosa.mosquera.losada@usc.es) from the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain)
