MADRID – In Spain, traditional pastoralists may hold the key to fighting the growing problem of wildfires that are devastating southern Europe.
This summer, Spain has been ravaged by forest fires. In August alone, more than 20 major wildfires blazed across the western regions of Extremadura, Castile and Leon and even farther north into Galicia, scorching an area of land about twice the size of London.
Criticism has mounted of the government’s ability to combat such blazes.
But one answer to the task of preventing fires from breaking out in the first place may lie in Spain’s north-east. Here, the teeth of cows, sheep and donkeys are being deployed to fight back against the forces of climate change by managing scrubland.
In Catalonia, “fire shepherds” like Marc Arcarons lead their herds of cows, sheep or donkeys through the countryside, in practices that have varied little for centuries.
However, today the path of the animals is dictated precisely by fire authorities in the region, which has had its share of devastation caused by blazes in recent years.
Once the animals have stripped the land bare of grass and any other tasty morsel, this creates natural fire blocks that stop the flames from spreading.
It has the added advantage of costing the authorities a fraction of the amount compared with using helicopters or planes to “waterbomb” the fires.
Arcarons is a co-ordinator with the Ramats de Foc (Fire Flocks in Catalan), a network of 51 shepherds whose cows, donkeys, sheep or horses are used to devour vegetation in areas that are especially at risk of catching fire in the arid months when temperatures rise into the 40s Celsius.
Arcarons’ farms in Anoia, an inland region 41 miles from Barcelona, is dominated by extensive farming of cattle or sheep used for milk or cheese. But when not farming, he and the shepherds’ network also work across Catalonia to use their flocks’ appetites to stop forest fires.
“I am a farmer. I graze my 60 cows and 60 donkeys in areas strategically marled out by firefighters in central Catalonia in the area of Anoia to keep the structure of the forest intact,” he told The i Paper.
“[We] try to make consumers of meat or milk in extensive farming, more conscious of the need to manage the risk of forest fires in the areas where the animals live,” Arcarons said.
The Fire Flocks Project is part of the Pau Costa Foundation, an organisation of researchers, firefighters and local authorities that campaigns for effective fire-resilient landscapes which are better prepared for wildlife risks.
The foundation is supported by the Catalan regional government’s fire department, which aims to use extensive farming as a way to help the annual battle against forest fires.
“Firefighters, as well as the forest department, provincial councils, and other entities, determine the strategic points where, with good forest management, they change the vegetation structure and, in this way, help combat large fires. It is in these areas that targeted grazing is practiced,” Arcarons said.
Armand Flaujat’s 102 sheep graze each year on about 350 hectares, of which 20 to 25 hectares between Arbolà and Alforja, two small villages to the south of Tarragona, are considered strategic by firefighters.
This year, Flaujat joined the Fire Flocks programme, which involves another 11 other shepherds from the Prades mountains, in southern Catalonia, who practice extensive farming.
Beyond caring for their sheep, goats, cows, horses and mules, farmers play an important role in creating a resilient landscape.
Shepherds can only qualify for the scheme if their flocks consume at least 65 per cent of scrubland and 90 per cent of grass. This is measured by forestry officials.
Arcarons says experts estimate that if animals eat about 70 per cent of the vegetation, this significantly reduces the amount of fuel needed to help a forest fire spread.
However, this way of fighting the growing threat of forest fires in a warming world is itself under threat, he said. With fewer extensive farmers as factory farming grows, Arcarons is worried that this way of combating blazes is dying out.
“Currently in Catalonia, extensive farming is carried out in 3,700 hectares of which 135,000 are defined as strategic points to combat fires,” Arcarons said.
However, he points out that shepherds get insufficient remuneration for their work, which discourages them from bothering.
“I am paid a small amount to graze in these zones but it is insufficient to compensate for the effort needed to manage these strategic areas,” he said.
He is paid just €145 (£125) per grazed hectare to take part in the project.
Each shepherd gets paid on average €3,000-5,000 (£2,595-£4,326) per year using their flocks to eat vegetation in strategic areas where there is fire risk.
“But 10 per cent of extensive livestock farmers disappear every year. The amount paid to farmers should be increased from €145 per grazed hectare to €300 or €400 [£260-£346].”