Desire for Greener Land
Desire for Greener Land
Desire for Greener Land
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Contro C lled grrazing<br />
in i deciduous<br />
woods w as an alterna ative too<br />
grazin ng on<br />
rangela r and<br />
Ita aly – Pascolo ccontrollato<br />
(Itallian)<br />
Controlled C graazing<br />
in decidduous<br />
woods s seasonally limited in su ummer when<br />
grass<br />
cover in rangeland suffers<br />
water str ress.<br />
During D the driesst<br />
season, farmmers<br />
shifts graz zing to deciduoous<br />
<strong>for</strong>est. Gra azing in <strong>for</strong>est<br />
is s controlled beecause<br />
it is limmited<br />
to specific<br />
areas and wwith<br />
a controlled<br />
number of<br />
an nimals (cows aand<br />
goats). In ddeciduous<br />
<strong>for</strong>e est, the animalss<br />
can still find green g grass in<br />
th he dry season. This action prevents<br />
excess sive stress in tthe<br />
surroundin ng rangelands,<br />
which w are sufferring<br />
from a seaasonal<br />
summer<br />
water deficit, as is typical of o areas with a<br />
Mediterranean M<br />
cclimate.<br />
When W controlled<br />
grazing is aadopted<br />
as th he conventionaal<br />
managemen nt technology,<br />
se elective cuttingg<br />
of trees every<br />
20 years is also used to provide additi ional earnings<br />
from<br />
the sale of firewood.<br />
Above left: CControlled<br />
graz zing - goats (Phhoto:<br />
Dino Torri)<br />
Above right: : Controlled gra azing in deciduuous<br />
oak <strong>for</strong>est (Phhoto:<br />
Dino Torri)<br />
One O purpose off<br />
this managemment<br />
technolog gy is to allow ggrazing<br />
in environments<br />
that<br />
st till preserve ggrasses<br />
in thee<br />
summer dry season. Morreover,<br />
this technology<br />
can<br />
pr revent overgraazing<br />
(and its consequences s in rangelandd<br />
and pasture es). Controlled<br />
gr razing is typicaal<br />
in the Renddina<br />
watershed d (Basilicata, Ittaly).<br />
The upp per part of the<br />
watershed w is loccated<br />
above 8000<br />
m a.s.l. and d is characterizzed<br />
by deciduo ous oak <strong>for</strong>est,<br />
which w every 20 years is subjecct<br />
to selective cutting. Selecttive<br />
cutting invo olves cutting a<br />
hi igh percentagee<br />
of a limited raange<br />
of tree sp pecies. Within aabout<br />
10 years,<br />
regeneration Location: Re<br />
of f the whole woooded<br />
area is possible. This allows <strong>for</strong> a cconstant<br />
regen neration of the Region: Pote<br />
woodland w and reduces the pprobability<br />
of a progressive degradation as a well as of Technology<br />
wildfires w due too<br />
an excessivee<br />
build-up of the t fuel load. The surrounding<br />
areas are Conservatio<br />
ei ither cultivatedd<br />
or rangeland and suffer from m the soil erossion<br />
and landslides<br />
that give Stage of inte<br />
ris se to degradation<br />
and hence to the loss of arable a lands.<br />
degradation<br />
Origin: throu<br />
Annual A rainfall is 500 mm wwith<br />
two rainy seasons (Octoober-Novembe<br />
er and March- years ago<br />
May). M Potential evapotranspiraation<br />
is up to 1100<br />
mm annuaally.<br />
The Rendina<br />
catchment <strong>Land</strong> use: fo<br />
ra anges from humid-subhumid<br />
to subhumid-s semiarid conditions.<br />
The surrounding<br />
area Climate: sub<br />
ra anges from (subhumid)-semiaarid<br />
to semiarid d-arid.<br />
WOCAT data<br />
cdewocat.uni<br />
Forests<br />
are eitther<br />
governmeent-owned<br />
or privately-ownned,<br />
but contr rolled grazing DESIRE site<br />
woodland w areass<br />
are mostly government-ow wned. Based on the numb ber of grazing his.eu/en/ren<br />
an nimals admitteed,<br />
the farmerss<br />
need to pay a tax to the muunicipalities<br />
or regions. Each Related appr<br />
fa armer has a sppecific<br />
number of animals adm mitted to the wwoodland<br />
area and there is a Compiled by<br />
ov verall maximum<br />
of animals especially dur ring summer, when a risk of o overgrazing Date: 3<br />
ex xists. Access too<br />
private <strong>for</strong>estt,<br />
on the other hand, is arrangged<br />
directly wit th the owners.<br />
Grazing G is organized<br />
on a daily<br />
basis by the e herdsman. TThe<br />
controlled grazing areas<br />
ar re always locaated<br />
in the wooodlands<br />
where e selective cutting<br />
is carried d out. In such<br />
ar reas livestock during summeer<br />
can enter an nd move moree<br />
easily in the relatively cool<br />
co onditions.<br />
th endina Basin<br />
enza / Regione<br />
area: 10 km<br />
Nov<br />
2<br />
e Basilicata<br />
on measure: management<br />
m<br />
ervention: prevention<br />
of land<br />
ugh land user’s initiative 10-50<br />
orests / woodlands<br />
and mixed<br />
bhumid, temper rate<br />
abase reference:<br />
QT ITA01<br />
ibe.ch/wocatQT T<br />
in<strong>for</strong>mation: www.desire-<br />
ndina-italy<br />
roach: not doc cumented<br />
y: Lorenzo Bor rselli, CNR<br />
v 2008, updated<br />
5 th d<br />
0<br />
d<br />
on<br />
Jun 2011<br />
SLM Technology: Controlled grazing in deciduous woods as an alternative to grazing on rangeland, Italy DESIRE – WOCAT 2012<br />
173
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