PASTOFUTUR - Analysing pastoral livestock farming through its multifunctionality and associated ecosystem services to strengthen public action

Pastoral activities are carried out in areas that are most often subject to multiple uses. They must contend with potentially contradictory demands: maintaining food production, contributing to the conservation of iconic species, managing natural risks, and controlling landscape dynamics in areas at the interface between agricultural lands, grasslands and forests.

Approaches

The INRAE and CIRAD research collective conducted a participatory research project in the Alpes-Provence-Verdon Community of Municipalities to help identify actions that would promote the long-term preservation of pastoral activities in the region in conjunction with other existing activities.

This research alternated between individual interviews with stakeholders, institutions and groups concerned with the future of pastoral farming in the region and workshops involving a wide range of stakeholders to enable the co-construction of strategies that could facilitate the articulation between multiple uses in the territory.

Results

The main results obtained during PASTOFUTUR  are organised around the four following dimensions:

Identifying the stakeholders and interactions at stake around pastoral livestock farming activities

Identifying, describing and analysing the interactions between pastoralism and a diversity of human and non-human actors, as expressed by livestock farmers in individual interviews, highlights different visions of the profession of livestock farmer or of shepherd.

Workshops with local farmers and shepherds enabled these interactions to be validated, prioritised and qualified from the perspective of those involved in livestock farming. Points of convergence emerged, such as the shared difficulty of grazing in forests, but a diversity of views was expressed on other topics. For example, the relationship with protected flora was viewed positively by some, while others saw it as a complex constraint to be integrated into herd management.

Characterising multiple uses of areas used for pastoral activities

Two thematic focus areas made it possible to characterise the compromises or ways in which pastoral activities and other activities are coordinated in silvopastoral areas and on mountain pastures frequented by people engaged in tourism and recreational activities.

Silvopastoral areas: supporting pastoralism and forestry

Stakeholders have diverse expectations regarding silvopastoral environments, each prioritising specific ecosystem services linked to their use(s). However, a shared interest in landscape aesthetics could be an interesting starting point for future collaborative work.  Certain levers for better coordination of multiple uses (e.g. shared land management tools, financial support for stump grinding operations, etc.), also integrating biodiversity issues (e.g. prior agreements on grazing schedules, phasing of work, etc.) have been identified.

Summer pastures: coexistence of livestock farming with tourism and recreational activities

Interviews and a participatory workshop highlighted a profound crisis in the local socio-ecosystem centred on the implementation of herd protection measures associated with the return of the wolf and the risk of predation. Relationships between stakeholders in the area appear to have changed profoundly, accompanied by a questioning of traditional trades and activities and impacting the perceived collective identity of the area. 

Identify measures conducive to collective management of the environment

During group workshops, two ideas emerged: i) the desire to build a realistic and attractive image of the region, better integrating existing activities and communicating more effectively with tourists from outside the region; ii) the need to share space more effectively. Explaining the reasons behind the practices and rules in place could encourage their acceptance and compliance, and thus possibly favour more appropriate behaviour from a variety of stakeholders.

Developing tools to support the collective approach

A prototype multi-use model has been developed that allows the spatial intersections between activities to be visualised. In the medium term, this opens up the possibility of developing a tool for facilitating discussion around the rules for implementing various management options and their link to changes in the landscape.

Participants

INRAE units involved

• UMR Selmet - Cirad / Institut Agro Montpellier
• UR LESSEM - Laboratoire écosystèmes et sociétés en montagne
• UMR MoÏSA - Montpellier interdisciplinary center on sustainable agri-food systems, social and nutritional sciences

Partners

• UMR Sens - Savoirs, Environnement et Sociétés - Cirad