Pasture Landscapes and Nature Conservation

Low-intensity pastoral systems have long provided substitute habitats for many species adapted to open landscapes in Europe. Modern developments in land cultivation techniques have caused a dramatic decline of valuable habitats, thereby threatening the biodiversity of open landscapes. However, for many years grazing was basically considered a problem by most individuals and organizations working for nature conservation. It is only recently that the adaptation of traditional pastoral systems to changing socio-economic conditions and the establishment of new forms of pasture landscapes have come into focus as a nature conservation strategy. A number of remaining traditional pastoral systems in Europe and the objectives of concepts for establishing new forms of pasture landscapes were the topics of the 1st International Workshop on Pasture Landscapes and Nature Conservation held in Lüneburg, Germany. The principal requirements for their successful implementation are discussed in this paper.

Based on a brief description of the situation of large mammals in Europe some aspects of the Nature Policy Plan of The Netherlands are elucidated. One of its main objectives is the implementation of an Ecological Network, composed of core areas, nature development areas and robust corridors. For the management of spacious nature areas large herbivore grazing is considered a suitable tool. The Dutch experiences with grazing herds of de-domesticated cattle and horses are presented, using the 5600 ha large nature reserve Oostvaardersplassen as a prominent example. Furthermore a number of questions are being discussed that arise when this type of large scale grazing system is being established.

Presently, extensive farming is very marginal and only present in particular economic and ecological situations, but in the past pastoralism was common in Wallonia, especially on poor, dry, wet or peaty soils, which developed on calcareous or acidic rocks of the Calestienne and Ardennes regions. Sandy soils were also present in the north, but to a lesser extent. Sheep used to graze common lands, heaths and moors on acidic soils, and calcareous grasslands on limestone or chalk. Cattle and horses used to graze in coppiced woodlands or forests. Wet meadows along streams and rivers, and mires were mown for Hwinter fodder or livestock bedding. Nowadays, last remnants of old pastoral landscapes are to be found on the poorest soils of the uplands or on steep slopes of rocky hills not (yet) reafforested.For many reasons, extensive grazing has rarely been used as a management tool for biodiversity conservation or restoration until recently, even in old pastoral landscapes. Restoration or management operations have frequently been carried out through mechanical management, and the use of large grazers for restoration or maintenance is quite recent. Where they are used, these are hardy breeds of cattle or ponies in wet pastures and abandoned meadows, sheep in heathlands and moors and sheep in association with goats in dry grasslands. Animals belong to NGOs, to amateur stockbreeders or to the Nature and Forests Administration. Sites under management agreements with farmers are generally grazed by productive breeds (non-lactating cows, young bulls or calves) but some use hardy breeds.This paper presents briefly three cases — the restoration of moors and bogs on the Hautes-Fagnes plateau, fallow wet meadows and pastures in the Ardenne valleys and calcareous grasslands in the Fagne-Famenne region — and notes the problems encountered in grazing management.

As part of a LIFE-Nature project promoted by the Pollino National Park, the semi-open mountain pastureland of the Pollino karstic massif has been studied. The most important habitats in terms of nature conservation have been found at lower altitudes in the Stipa austroitalica garigues, that are composed of a very complex mosaic of successional habitats ranging from open grassland to more or less mature forest. Cattle grazing and burning seem to be the most effective rejuvenation factors and both are helpful in maintaining high biodiversity levels in birds (many lark species), butterflies and Carabid beetles (some quantitative data are presented for invertebrates). Vegetation features, relationships with land use and possible management in relation to faunal conservation are discussed.

The Cantabrian mountain range and the Pyrenees will be analysed, using transects describing the principal types of vegetation, and showing the climatic contrast between an oceanic climate with more than 1200 mm of annual rainfall on the northern slopes and a continental-Mediterranean climate becoming progressively drier southwards.In Asturias the assistance from the EU for the use of communal pastures is very important. Through this, help is granted to farmers using the communal pastures of the National Park of Picos de Europa. The objective is to maintain the grazing traditions practised in the past and to allow the development of land use systems compatible with the environment, while at the same time improving the use of the hills in the face of an increase of scrubland, which causes serious fires.Intensive livestock farming, the industrial fatteners, and specialized livestock production based on a mix of tillage and grassland had very harmful effects: for the conservation of biodiversity, the ecologicaluse of extensive grazing lands, the upkeep of the “brañas”, the mountain landscape, the rural architecture, the indigenous breeds and the age-old shepherding culture.In the Pyrenees we analyse recent changes in land use. A new demographic structure and decrease in population together led to the redevelopment of new management systems: a decrease in the cultivated area, the decline in cereal production and an increase in meadows, and the decline of sheep and expansion of cattle raising.

Current livestock systems in Georgia (Caucasus) are focused mainly on self-supply. Pasturing is present almost everywhere. As mineral fertilizers, concentrated feed and modern machines are almost absent, animal production is basically limited by the natural productivity and carrying capacity of the ecosystems. The ecological effects were enhanced by traditional transhumance (migratory) systems, which caused extensive degradation of soils and vegetation in the summer and winter pasture areas. National independence in 1991 and subsequent civil war resulted in a sharp decline in the stock of domesticated animals. The former transhumance systems collapsed.The current effects of pasturing on nature are ambivalent. Recent livestock grazing obviously caused considerable soil degradation and erosion. But it is doubtful whether any other kind of land use would improve the situation in ecologically fragile areas. Nor is it clear to what extent current pastoral farming increases damage initiated during Soviet times or even earlier. Positive effects are the generation of a diverse habitat spectrum on a medium spatial scale and of highly diverse “mosaic” landscapes, resulting in very high levels of biodiversity and providing resources for threatened species.The data from Georgia prove that large-scale pasturing can be an alternative for the development of regions in central Europe where conventional plant production in agriculture vanishes due to insufficient farm income, provided that the western European standards can be kept by subsidies and incentives linked to active measures supporting nature conservation targets.

The results of the study on grazing systems in a joint Ukrainian-German research project “Transformation processes in the Dnister-Region (Western Ukraine)” are presented, whichhas been running since 1995 and is funded by the German Ministry for Education and Science under the patronage of UNESCO.On the basis of data obtained for three model pastures in the villages of Busovysko and Verkhny Luzhok (Stary Sambir district, Lviv region), for the high mountains region (grasslands above the timberline) and for the humid areas of the Carpathian foothills we determined some changes in the structure of pastures and in the type of grazing. We studied the grazing intensity and analysed the influence of grazing on the plant cover of pastures, on changes in the population structure of indicator plant species and on the biodiversity of Lepidoptera.The conclusion is drawn that unstructured cattle grazing over large areas is the most effective means for preserving the biodiversity of these sites.

The New Forest is one of the most important areas for nature conservation in western Europe. Its scale and richness are of equal importance to the lessons it affords us in understanding the relationship between history, soils, vegetation and the impact of grazing animals on forest ecosystems. The management of the Forest is described, along with short descriptions of some recent projects that have been inspired by the New Forest and have applied its lessons to other, smaller areas of woodland and heathland in lowland England.

Prior to Frans Vera’s work, several workers in the UK were advocating that areas of temperate Europe were not covered with a continuous unbroken tree cover. Crawley and Green (in prep.) suggest a countryside of ‘glades with trees round them’. It is suggested that pests and diseases could create the glades in woodland or other vegetation and in some cases maintain them. Browsing / grazing animals would continue to maintain the open spaces until they themselves were affected by diseases and pests after events such as prolonged drought, leading to a sudden large drop in numbers allowing colonisation by trees and shrubs. The cycle of tree cover would then begin again — until the arrival of man. Man colonised the savannah and glades and expanded them for the final time … or perhaps until he too succumbs.

This article first gives a short description of the situation of agriculture in Germany, with special reference to the development of land use. During the last decade an increase in the intensity of agricultural land use took place in some areas, while in other areas, especially in marginal areas, the amount of land used for agriculture has decreased steadily. As a consequence, formerly extensively utilized marginal areas became fallow. Red Data Books in Germany show that a great number of plant and animal species that are endangered or threatened with extinction are concentrated in extensively utilized agricultural landscapes. Therefore the development outlined above creates special problems for species and habitat conservation.Secondly, the article describes the idea of “semi-open pasture landscapes” as an alternative to common concepts of cultivation or management of marginal areas (e. g. poor quality grasslands). In many respects the establishment of semi-open pasture landscapes can be based on existing agricultural practices that are traditional or specific to particular areas. In contrast to traditional forms of agricultural practice, the object of “semi-open pasture landscapes” is to combine both economic and ecological requirements. This would enable the continuation of the extensive use of many marginal areas in Germany as well as the preservation of landscapes valuable for nature conservation and species protection. As an example, the trial and development project “Semi-open Pasture Landscape Höltigbaum” is presented and first results of the research project are reported.

The countryside in the County of South Jutland is, as in most of Denmark, much influenced by man’s activities, mainly farming. The “traditional” scenic pastoral landscape is much reduced in area, and the degree of “naturalness” of the remaining areas is far from a natural state. As a consequence, the county’s focus for nature conservation is set on maintaining and increasing habitat diversity. The article presents a few of the grazing projects run in the County of South Jutland, and the strategies on which they are based.

In the wake of current water management problems, new legislation and a rising public awareness concerning environmental problems, new opportunities for nature development arise. The ecosystem management concept of restoring native ecosystems and rehabilitating original ecosystem functions and processes (such as nutrient cycles and hydrological processes) is being applied along the river Scheldt. Based on analysis and estimates of current and future problems in both the valley and the estuary, a conceptual rehabilitation model with a long-term vision is developed to tackle these problems. This vision is then translated into concrete plans and implementations trying to combine safety measures against flooding as much as possible with ecological rehabilitation and the creation of sustainable river related nature. The entire process from vision building, problem analysis and model making to concrete nature development plans is outlined in this article for the example of an ambitious nature development project in the Kruibeke-Bazel-Rupelmonde polder. The entire landscape (over 500 ha) will be rehabilitated, not by restoring the ecological patterns, but mainly by creating opportunities for ecological processes to take place, such as tides, inundation, seepage and grazing.

Today’s Border Meuse is an unnatural narrow river in a monotonous landscape with agricultural land use up to the very margins of the river; major floods are always disastrous. Our vision is that of a broader river in a diversified landscape with lots of possibilities for nature development. The river will contain more water: floods will no longer be catastrophic.This vision will become reality through the border Meuse nature development project. At the heart of the project is a unique combination of gravel extraction and nature development. Through limited and shallow extraction the gravel industry creates possibilities for the river allowing it to develop into a more natural gravel river.Fifteen hundred hectares of “new nature” will thus be created in a densely populated area. So it is essential that the local residents should be moved into not merely accepting but rather enjoying the new situation.To achieve this goal a major information campaign is being carried out.Out in the field adults as well as children learn to appreciate the “new nature” and to marvel at its richness. For most of them it is a real wilderness experience.Riverine nature itself provides many high points: • From the first year after extraction people witness a real outburst of flowers, insects and other wildlife.• Introduced large herbivores (Galloway cattle and Konik horses) assume the role of their wild counterparts. They give a real touch of wilderness to the new river landscape. They also enable the development of a very diverse woodland vegetation. Once understood and accepted this “new nature” provides moments of pure joy.

The Lake Pape is located in the southwestern corner of Latvia, close to the Baltic Sea. After the breakup of the Soviet Union huge areas of former grassland have fallen fallow. To restore grasslands at the Lake Pape a grazing project with 18 Konik horses has been started by the Ark Foundation, the Large Herbivore Initiative and WWF Latvia in summer 1999. The article gives an insight into this project.

The BUNDE WISCHEN association runs a herd of 350 Galloway cattle on at least 600 hectares of pasture in northern Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The article gives four examples of the grazing projects run by BUNDE WISCHEN. After 14 years of experience it is evident that extensive grazing is a useful management tool to protect endangered grasslands in northern Germany. As a side effect of grazing, meat production and tourism could help to finance nature conservation.

Swine herding was the predominant pig-keeping system until the beginning of the 20th century. Woodland grazing in autumn was the most important requisite of traditional pig-keeping systems. However, pigs also grazed in open areas, feeding on grasses and herbs.In contrast to other livestock, pigs exhibit a unique feeding strategy to reach sub-surface food. By ‘rooting’ the ground, they gather rhizomes, roots, insects, earthworms and small rodents. These disturbances caused in the grass sward can have a particular potential for conservation management.Pig pastures are well known for harbouring a specific and nowadays endangered flora. Traditional grazing systems in countries such as Croatia (in the floodplains of the river Sava) underscore the importance of mixed grazing (cattle, horses and pigs) for nature conservation.In September 1999 a research project started which aims to study and evaluate the effects of low-intensity outdoor pig-keeping on the environment. The focus is on flora and fauna as well as on soil properties. The evaluation further includes animal health, animal welfare (behaviour) and socio-economic parameters.The article gives an insight into the aims and structure of this project.

In the valley of the river Eider (Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany) a conservation management project was established in 1999. A large-scale grazing system has been set up and measures to rewet the area have been implemented.The effects of conservation management are analysed, focussing on the structure and dynamics of biocoenoses and on water and nutrient balances. Moreover, the costs and benefits of the nature conservation project are investigated in economic terms.

In Germany, sand ecosystems are among the endangered habitats, particularly the open and the ecotone-rich forms including open oak and pine woodland. A practicable nature conservation concept has to take into account the often anthropo-zoogenically caused dynamics of sand ecosystems. The conservation of these ecosystems is problematic, as they form dynamic systems which lose relevance for species and habitat conservation if they are not used or if they are intensively used or fertilized.Therefore, apart from existing sandy regions, restitution areas are studied, among them an inland dune complex the morphology of which was altered in the context of a trial and development project. The areas studied are located in the north-German lowland plain (“Hase valley”, “Ems valley” in the Emsland region) and in the northern Upper Rhine valley (sandy regions near Darmstadt). Differentiated grazing systems with cattle, sheep, goats, horses, Mangalitza pigs and donkeys are employed.The central aim of the project is to analyse the effects of different grazing systems on the vegetation, on nutrient dynamics, on selected animal groups and on socio-economics. The article presents conclusions for nature conservation and socio-economic aspects.

The middle Rhine Valley (Germany) is a typical example of the widespread conflict between a high nature conservation value of the cultural landscape on the one hand and the loss of any interest in land use as the traditional ‘management tool’ on the other hand. Therefore, possibilities for the sustainable development of this ‘model region’ with its characteristic xerothermic slopes were studied within the scope of a feasibility study. The projected conservation strategies, which will be implemented within the next years, take into account traditional and alternative forms of land use as well as management practices without any economic interest. The latter include controlled burning of different successional stages on the steep slopes, clearance of scrub-dominated areas with tank-tracks and the extensive (‘semi-wild’) grazing of an area of about 65 ha with wild sheep and goats.

While continental Europe may still retain large areas of early mature managed forest, Britain may have far more old trees on ancient woodland or wood pasture sites and in some traditional agricultural landscapes than most other northern European countries. Ancient woodland sites with existing old trees and shrubs and with a continuity of old trees reaching back into the past are of unsurpassed value for their dead and decaying wood communities especially fungi, lichens and invertebrates. Our priority is to perpetuate the continuity of ancient dead and decaying trees on ancient sites and to ensure the continuity of replacement trees through the next millennium.

Wildfire is one of the main environmental problems in the forests of northern Spain. In recent years the risk of wildfires has increased as traditional exploitation of forest lands has declined. In this paper, after presenting a short list of endemic and rare plants and plant communities, we review several types of silvopastoral Systems in use in north-western Spain. In these Systems native animal breeds are used to graze the undergrowth of pinewoods and eucalyptus and deciduous forests and scrublands, as a means of reducing the amount of combustible material within the forests. Silvopastoral Systems are good practice to maintain and preserve nature and its biodiversity in Galicia.

In addition to administrative regulation, it is necessary to engage in practical maintenance measures in order to ensure the continued existence of typical Central European pasture woodland structures and their biocoenoses. Until now such management, if undertaken at all, has been mostly mechanical, using chainsaws or motor scythes. Since the summer of 2000 in the Solling-Vogler Nature Park (Lower Saxony/Germany), a newer, gentler management method has been implemented using large herbivores. In this case, Heck cattle and Exmoor ponies provide for the natural Clearing of an area of 170 hectares in a part of the forest containing mostly older oak trees. One of the objectives is that the animals should suppress the growth of new beech trees. A more intricate dovetailing of the woodland with the open landscape as well as a general increase in structural diversity, resulting in a diversity of species, should be achieved through the grazing activity. Differing from the intensive manner in which pasture woodlands were historically managed, the grazing should be extensive, i. e. at a lower grazer density. The aim is to develop an optimal management model as well as a conservation and historico-cultural perspective on important woodland locations, and to carry out scientific research to underpin the fmdings. This includes both ecological and economic aspects. It is also assumed that projects like this, using large grazing animals, stimulate public interest and help to lead to a more harmonious relationship between man and nature.

A description is given of the programme of the WWF-founded Large Herbivore Initiative (LHI). The LHI is a network organization, for which the WWF acts as facilitator. In the Programme large herbivores are considered not just as species as such, but also as essential elements in ecosystems and thus as promoters of ecosystem conservation.The scope, motivations, objectives, activities and projects of the programme are discussed. Some examples from Mongolia are given to illustrate the programme.

In the intensively used agricultural, industrial and urban landscapes of the Netherlands, a lot of public interest is attracted by spontaneous nature in areas where nature ‘just happens’ instead of being planned and rigidly managed. In pilot projects the Ark Foundation experiments with landscape development in floodplains and coastal areas under the influence of natural dynamic processes such as flooding, erosion, Sedimentation and natural grazing by large herbivores. The projects seek to combine different requirements of society such as the need for flood defence, extraction of renewable material, drinking water, biodiversity, and (eco-)tourism, and are always carried out in coalition with different nature conservation organizations, local and regional authorities, the extraction industry and the tourism industry. The areas are fully open to the public, which is actively involved in the projects through field classes, nature education et cetera. Natural grazing, seen as an essential part in landscape development, is defined as mixed grazing with horses and cattle, and preferably other species; at low grazing intensity, where sufficient food supply in late winter defines herbivore densities; with robust races closely related to their wild ancestors, and capable of surviving (almost) without human interference; living in herds in a natural gender ratio, and consisting of their natural social communities like harems and groups of young stallions, or groups of cows, groups of bulls and solitary bulls.

The European landscape reflects several centuries of interaction between people and their natural environments. These “cultural” landscapes are overwhelmingly the product of man’s farming activities. Many such landscapes are linked even today with pastoral farming Systems. The rapid modernization of European agriculture, which spread out from the Atlantic lowlands of the north-west, has resulted in intensification, marginalization, concentration and specialization of farming. This modernization continues today in southern Europe and has begun and is certain to increase in central and eastern Europe. It has resulted in a fundamental imbalance between farming and the environment. Only in recent years has the agricultural policy of the European Union started to respond to the environmental implications of this imbalance. It includes application of compulsory regulation to ensure minimum Standards, and promotion of agri-environment programmes to encourage positive environmental actions. But both measures have had limited effect to date. The latest reforms of the “Common Agricultural Policy“ — known as “Agenda 2000” — have placed greater emphasis on this kind of programme and especially on the concept of “integrated rural development”. The fundamental linkage between extensive farmingand especially with pastoral farming and biodiversity leads to the rationale of why certain styles of farming should be central to future rural development policies, as in the Agenda 2006/2007 concept.

The article gives an overview of new research methods based on Geographic Information Systems. Aerial photography series taken several times a year provide an important database for continuous change detection in grazing Systems. This information is combined with observations of cattle behaviour and density. Interpolations allow for analysis of cattle movement. It is thereby possible to identify correlations between cattle, habitat strueture, the dynamic character of the pasture and selected target species (Milvus milvus, Anthus pratensis, Zygaenidae).

The article describes a 150 ha grazing system near Tbilisi (Georgia). The impact of cattle grazing on habitat quality for selected species of Orthoptera is analysed.Different cattle densities in time and Space as a result of the large-scale grazing lead to dynamic mosaic of grassland, scrub and trees. As the research clearly shows, grazing haspositive effects on the Orthoptera fauna in the study area. The diversity of habitat structuresoffers suitable habitats for a high number of specialized Orthoptera species.

The Lonjsko Polje nature park in the Sava floodplain is situated southeast of Zagreb (Croatia). It harbours a high number of endangered or rare animal and plant species.The large-scale and low-intensity grazing regime seems to be a key factor in the maintenance of viable populations. First, this regime helps to establish and maintain a high level of habitat diversity. As a result, species with complex habitat requirements, such asspoonbills, amphibians and various invertebrates, find optimum conditions in the area.Second, the overgrazing of specific areas, the trampling and especially the disturbance by pigs is beneficial to poorly competing plant and other pioneer species.

The results of investigations of a 24 ha pasture in Werchnej Luschok are presented. The movements of the cattle were observed with an automatic camera set-up which took a photo of the area every twenty minutes. Changes in land use between 1896 and 1999 were also analysed. In 1999 the grassland covers a larger area, while the area under tillage has declined considerably. The spatial heterogeneity of grazing pressure is high. Higher grazing intensity leads to higher habitat diversity. With higher grazing intensity the number of grasshopper species per plot is lower. The Shannon Index for grasshoppers also declines with higher grazing intensity.

The article gives an insight into the research project “Co-operative grazing Systems: An alternative concept for the management of endangered open and semi-open landscapes”. Cooperatively grazed pastures in the south-west of Bavaria are analysed with regard to their ecological and economic structures. The organization, hypothesis and methods of the project are discussed. Proceeding from preliminary results, the research area is characterized.

The “Mosaik” project studies the effects of two new management concepts, on the one hand the creation of permanent pastures with low stocking densities (< 0. 5 animals/ha) under an overall ‘semi-open pasture landscape’ approach, and on the other hand a spatial mosaic with cyclic, massive interventions in the Vegetation cover (hoeing/mechanical cultivation) under an overall ‘ley landscape’ approach. Both management approaches will lead to a semi-open landscape with scrub and a mosaic — both spatial and temporal — of habitat qualities for flora and fauna. This may pose a risk of colonization and extinction for some of the endangered species.The aim of the research project is to predict the local and regional risk of extinction of flora and fauna when such management Systems are used. If the risk is low, intensive, expensive maintenance and Simulation of traditional land use can be replaced by these generally simpler and cheaper management Systems.

Natural riverine landscapes are characterized by a high proportion of open areas which are sparsely covered with Vegetation. Thus, river restoration and the re-establishment of river dynamics may be a promising strategy for the conservation of species living in open habitats. This paper discusses the effects of river restoration measures at the rivers Main and Rodach (northern Bavaria, Germany), presenting first results that demonstrate how newly initiated dynamics create high structural diversity including a significant proportion of open landscapes. The restored areas provide habitat for many animal and plant species that live in open landscapes.

Pasture landscapes with free ranging grazers were once typical of large areas in Europe. These ecosystems are important habitats for a great number of endangered plant and animal species. Roaming or transhumant grazers support the dispersal of plant and invertebrate animal species both by transporting diaspores or specimens and by creating open linear structures functioning as connecting lines between patches of open habitats.Changing agro-economic and social conditions have led to a completely different Situation. Extensive grasslands have been converted into intensive grasslands or arable land, or they have been abandoned in the case of less productive soils. Also, traditional transhumance Systems have been discontinued in large areas of Europe.The re-introduction of large extensive semi-open pastoral landscapes could be an important approach for both the maintenance of extensive grassland farming Systems and for nature conservation. This paper provides a brief overview of the ecological significance, histrical background and theoretical foundation of pasture landscapes as a tool for nature conservation and for extensive land use. Additionally, problems in implementing large-scale pastoral Systems caused by current economic and legal circumstances are discussed.