Fire Flocks: Participating Farmers’ Perceptions after Five Years of Development

Sergi Nuss-Girona, Emma Soy, Guillem Canaleta, Ona Alay, Rut Domènech and Núria Prat-Guitart ()
Additional contact information
Sergi Nuss-Girona: Geography Department and Environment Institute, University of Girona, 17004 Girona, Spain
Emma Soy: Pau Costa Foundation, Av. Mossèn Cinto Verdaguer, 42 esc. A bxs 2a., 08552 Taradell, Spain
Guillem Canaleta: Pau Costa Foundation, Av. Mossèn Cinto Verdaguer, 42 esc. A bxs 2a., 08552 Taradell, Spain
Ona Alay: Pau Costa Foundation, Av. Mossèn Cinto Verdaguer, 42 esc. A bxs 2a., 08552 Taradell, Spain
Rut Domènech: Consorci de Polítiques Ambientals de les Terres de l’Ebre (COPATE), Plaça Lluís Companys, 43870 Amposta, Spain
Núria Prat-Guitart: Pau Costa Foundation, Av. Mossèn Cinto Verdaguer, 42 esc. A bxs 2a., 08552 Taradell, Spain

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 10, 1-19

Abstract: Nowadays, extensive livestock farming faces substantial threats in the Mediterranean region, provoking a setback dynamic in the sector. In 2016, the Fire Flocks (FF) project was conceived and implemented as a regional strategy to revert this situation and revalue the sector in Catalonia, in the NE of the Iberian Peninsula. FF promotes forest management through extensive livestock farming, and more specifically silvopastoralism, to reduce vegetation load and wildfire risk. The initiative also works on fire risk awareness with the aim of promoting extensive livestock products through FF label and valorization strategies. Five years after its initial implementation, the project managers detected several weaknesses and potential improvements directly affecting the economic and environmental performance of the participating farms. It was therefore considered necessary to conduct targeted qualitative interviews with the farmers participating in the project in order to gather their opinions on the project’s functioning and further steps. To this end, 17 farmers were interviewed with the aid of a qualitative questionnaire. The farmers stated that although FF is not providing them with any direct financial benefits, it does present an opportunity to belong to a group of farmers working on wildfire prevention, thereby lending them a voice as a group, and reaching more social visibility. The qualitative analyses elucidate key elements to be promoted in FF, such as redesign of the operational structure, expansion to a regional scale and action lines to facilitate grazing activity.

Keywords: extensive livestock farming; forest management; silvopastoralism; wildfire risk reduction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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