RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 Land of wolves, school of shepherds: the importance of pastoral knowledge on co-existence with large carnivores
A1 Morales Reyes, Zebensui
A1 Durá-Alemañ, C. Javier
A1 Almarcha, Francisco
A1 Sánchez-Zapata, José A.
A1 Pérez-Ibarra, Irene
A2 Biología Animal y Edafología y Geología
K1 Anthropogenic landscapes
K1 apex predators
K1 human-wildlife coexistence
K1 indigenous and local knowledge
K1 livestock guardian dogs
K1 pastoralism
AB The wolf (Canis lupus) is recovering and recolonizing its historic range in Europe. In placeswhere wolves have long been absent, their recent recolonization could potentially provokeextensive livestock farmers’ opposition. To understand the conditions for extensive grazingwolf co-existence, we conducted interviews with livestock farmers and shepherds to comparethree Spanish regions in different wolf presence states: uninterrupted wolf presence, recentwolf recolonization and sporadic wolf presence. Our results show the importance ofTraditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) for reducing conflict and enabling co-existence. Inareas where wolves were extinct and have been recently recolonized, loss of TEK has led toless of both tolerance to wolves and awareness of the benefits they provide. Conversely, inareas where wolf presence has been uninterrupted, maintaining the TEK associated withlivestock management, such as use of mastiff dogs and shepherd's role, has favored the coexistence of extensive grazing systems with wolves. Our findings have important implicationsfor the EU Common Agricultural Policy by highlighting the urgent need to integrate the closelink between TEK and the co-existence of extensive grazing systems with large carnivores.Furthermore, the EU Nature Restoration Law could reinforce these same approaches.
YR 2024
FD 2024
LK http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/40100
UL http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/40100
LA en
DS Repositorio institucional de la Universidad de La Laguna
RD 27-dic-2024