How can traditional grazing practices help prevent wildfires in a changing climate?
Across Europe, rising temperatures, prolonged droughts and extreme weather events are increasing the frequency and intensity of wildfires. Forest ecosystems are becoming more vulnerable, and rural communities face growing risks to their livelihoods, biodiversity and infrastructure.
In this context, traditional practices such as shepherding and grazing are gaining renewed attention as practical, nature-based solutions for climate adaptation. Far from being outdated, grazing is emerging as a strategic tool to manage vegetation, reduce wildfire risk and enhance forestry resilience.
Why wildfire risk is increasing across Europe
Climate change is reshaping forest dynamics. Hotter summers, reduced precipitation and longer dry seasons contribute to the accumulation of dry biomass, creating highly flammable landscapes. At the same time, rural depopulation and land abandonment in many European regions have reduced traditional land management practices, allowing vegetation to grow unchecked.
This combination of climate stress and vegetation accumulation significantly increases wildfire probability. Once ignited, fires spread more rapidly and burn more intensely when there is abundant fuel available.
Preventing wildfires, therefore, is not only about emergency response, it is about managing landscapes proactively.
What is natural grazing and how does it work?
Natural grazing refers to the ecological process through which herbivores feed on vegetation, shaping plant structure, species composition and fuel load. Historically, grazing animals such as sheep and goats played a crucial role in maintaining open landscapes, controlling shrub growth and reducing the accumulation of dry biomass.
Unlike intensive livestock systems, traditional shepherding practices are typically mobile and adapted to local ecosystems. Animals graze selectively, creating heterogeneous landscapes that interrupt continuous fuel patterns. This mosaic structure can slow down or limit the spread of fire.
In ecological terms, grazing influences:
- Vegetation height and density
- Species diversity
- Accumulation of combustible material
- Landscape connectivity
By reducing the volume of fine fuels (such as dry grasses and shrubs), grazing directly lowers the intensity and speed at which wildfires can spread.
Grazing as a tool for wildfire prevention
Recent European initiatives and research highlight the growing recognition of grazing as a wildfire prevention strategy. By acting as “biological fuel managers,” grazing animals help reduce the vegetation that would otherwise serve as fire fuel during dry periods.
In fire-prone regions, targeted grazing has been integrated into risk reduction strategies. Shepherds guide animals to areas with high biomass accumulation, helping to clear firebreak zones and buffer areas near forests and rural settlements.
This approach offers several advantages:
- Continuous, low-cost vegetation management
- Reduced reliance on mechanical clearing
- Lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to heavy machinery
- Simultaneous support for rural livelihoods
Importantly, grazing does not eliminate wildfire risk entirely. However, it reduces fire intensity and spread potential, making landscapes more manageable and resilient.
Scientific evidence supporting grazing for ecosystem resilience
Scientific studies increasingly confirm that grazing influences ecosystem dynamics in ways that can contribute to resilience. Moderate grazing levels have been associated with:
- Improved plant diversity
- Enhanced soil structure
- Reduced shrub encroachment
- Lower fuel continuity
When properly managed, grazing can create structurally diverse landscapes that are less prone to large-scale fires. It also supports ecosystem services such as biodiversity conservation, carbon cycling and water regulation.
However, context matters. Overgrazing can degrade ecosystems, while undergrazing can lead to fuel accumulation. The effectiveness of grazing as a climate adaptation strategy depends on adaptive management, local knowledge and ecological monitoring.
This is where combining traditional shepherding knowledge with scientific assessment becomes crucial.
Shepherding and climate adaptation: beyond wildfire prevention
While wildfire prevention is one of the most visible benefits, grazing contributes to climate adaptation in broader ways. By maintaining open landscapes and reducing vegetation density, grazing can:
- Protect forest edges
- Support habitat diversity
- Enhance ecosystem connectivity
- Sustain rural economies
Shepherding also preserves traditional ecological knowledge — practices that have evolved over centuries in response to local climatic conditions. Integrating this knowledge into modern adaptation strategies strengthens social resilience alongside ecological resilience.
In a context where climate adaptation often relies on technological solutions, grazing represents a complementary, low-tech but highly effective approach grounded in ecological processes.
A Nature-Based Solution aligned with European climate objectives
The European Union increasingly promotes Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) as key tools for climate resilience. Grazing fits within this framework by working with ecological systems rather than against them.
By reducing wildfire risk, enhancing biodiversity and sustaining rural livelihoods, shepherding supports multiple policy objectives simultaneously:
- Climate adaptation
- Biodiversity conservation
- Rural development
- Sustainable land management
This integrated approach reflects the need for systemic solutions that address environmental, social and economic dimensions together.
The role of FARCLIMATE in promoting resilient forestry practices
Within the project, forestry resilience is explored through Living Labs and place-based experimentation. These collaborative spaces bring together researchers, stakeholders and practitioners to test adaptation strategies in real territorial contexts.
The inclusion of practices such as grazing within adaptation discussions demonstrates the importance of integrating traditional knowledge with scientific innovation. Through training materials, case studies and dissemination activities, FARCLIMATE contributes to making these approaches visible, understandable and transferable.
By translating complex adaptation strategies into accessible formats — including videos, Practice Abstracts and stakeholder workshops — the project helps bridge the gap between research and implementation.
From tradition to transformation
As Europe faces increasing wildfire risks under climate change, prevention strategies must evolve. Shepherding and grazing show that sometimes the most effective solutions are not entirely new, but rather the result of revaluing long-standing ecological practices.
When combined with scientific evidence, monitoring tools and collaborative governance frameworks, grazing can become a powerful instrument within broader climate adaptation strategies.
Strengthening forestry resilience does not always require high-tech interventions. Sometimes, it requires recognising the value of landscapes shaped by human-animal interactions over centuries — and adapting those practices to meet contemporary climate challenges.