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Silvopastoral Systems as a Tool for Territorial Sustainability and Biodiversity

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Abstract

Rural and livestock population evolution in the inner north of Portugal has demonstrated a great regression with consequences for environment and nature conservation. In this context, and taking into account that pastoral activity has shaped the natural areas of mountain territories since its beginning and that territories are currently part of Natura 2000 network, rethinking the importance of such activity has become vital. The constraints affecting daily tasks performed by shepherds and livestock breeders as well as the installed social segregation are a strong limitation. However, current research developed in the context of nature conservation has demonstrated the importance of the landscape mosaic promoted by grazing in the preservation of priority habitats. In this way, it is urgent to assess the issue of shepherds and livestock breeders’ image in terms of their roles, relationships and concerns, as well as to assess pastoralism socioeconomics in regard to self-consumption, market and rural self-sufficiency. In this perspective, this work presents an analysis of the adaptation of grazing to current times, perceiving its limitations and success potential.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by European Structural and Investment Funds, FEDER component, through the Operational Competitiveness and Internationalization Programme (COMPETE 2020) [Project No. 006971 (UID/SOC/04011)], and national funds, through FCT, Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under project UID/SOC/04011/2013.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forest and Landscape; Centre for Transdisciplinary Development Studies, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal

    F. Torres-Manso

  2. Department of Economy, Sociology and Management; Centre for Transdisciplinary Development Studies, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal

    A. A. Marta-Costa & L. Tibério

  3. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Mountain Research Centre, Polytechnic lnstitute of Bragança, Bragança, Portugal

    M. Castro

Authors
  1. F. Torres-Manso
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  2. A. A. Marta-Costa
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  3. M. Castro
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  4. L. Tibério
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. A. Marta-Costa .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Natural Resource Management Division, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, India

    Jagdish Chander Dagar

  2. Himalayan Forest Research Institute, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India

    Vindhya Prasad Tewari

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Torres-Manso, F., Marta-Costa, A.A., Castro, M., Tibério, L. (2017). Silvopastoral Systems as a Tool for Territorial Sustainability and Biodiversity. In: Dagar, J., Tewari, V. (eds) Agroforestry. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7650-3_12

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