PREVINOVIC Operational Group: Application of extensive sheep and goat farming as a tool for fire control and prevention in Spain. Characterization and study of the benefits

Fire prevention in the Mediterranean has traditionally been carried out through the construction and maintenance of firebreaks, linear structures that break the continuity of vegetation to slow the spread of fires. The maintenance of these linear infrastructures is costly and is carried out mechanically. In recent decades, various experiments have sought to incorporate extensive livestock farming as another tool for fire prevention. Herbivores are capable of reducing fuel load through grazing, browsing, and trampling (Rouet-Leduc et al., 2021; Mancilla-Leyton et al., 2012). Extensive livestock farming contributes to clearing shrubby areas in forested areas (Lasana et al., 2018). Thus, grazing shows enormous potential for reducing woody biomass and fire risk (Celaya et al., 2022).

All of this is within the framework of properly managed silvopastoral systems (Rigueiro R. et al., 2005). Maintaining or promoting grazing by domestic or wild herbivores is a promising tool for cost-effectively reducing the risk of forest fires while providing other ecosystem services (Rouet-Leduc et al., 2021). The national legislation regulating all forest area uses is Law 43/2003 on Forests, amended by Law 10/2006. It establishes pastures as one of the forest uses.

As such, it is the responsibility of the competent bodies of the Autonomous Communities to regulate their use. The law requires that the use of pastureland be included in the corresponding forest management instruments or forest resource management plans. Pasture management can be incorporated into the forest fire prevention, monitoring, and suppression plans of the Autonomous Communities. The legislation of the Autonomous Communities is broader and more diverse depending on the territory.

However, it is common to find forestry laws and regulations governing forest resource management plans, laws or decrees on forest fire prevention, and decrees specifically regulating the use of pastures on forest land, as well as the administrative authorization regimes, where applicable.