Low intensity grazing by wild and semi-wild herbivores delivers a wide range of benefits to people and nature. The fourth in our ongoing series of impact stories takes a look at how rewilding has enhanced such grazing within European landscapes over the last decade.

Today, wildfire poses a major risk to people, property and nature around the world. A new study, carried out as part of the GrazeLIFE project, has found that grazing with large herbivores can significantly reduce this risk.

The release of 10 Sorraia horses in the Greater Côa Valley in northern Portugal will increase natural grazing, reduce wildfire risk and boost nature-based tourism.      

The next iteration of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is about to be ratified. While those involved have declared it to be “greener and fairer”, there is serious concern that it will be even more destructive for climate and biodiversity. A new report from the GrazeLIFE consortium outlines how and why European policies must provide far more support for low-intensity grazing.

Reintroducing free-roaming herbivores to fire-prone landscapes can reduce wildfire risk and enhance biodiversity.

iDiv-based PhD student Julia Rouet-Leduc has just completed a review of the benefits of different types of grazing. As part of the ongoing GrazeLIFE project, her work will inform the discussion about how to create a more supportive policy environment for these various grazing systems in Europe. In this blog, she walks us through some of the findings from her literature review.

Results from the ongoing GrazeLIFE project demonstrate that natural forests, complete with naturally occurring populations of free-roaming herbivores, can boost biodiversity and reduce the scale and impact of climate change. The EU should take account of this in all relevant strategy and policy going forwards.

The disappearance of grazing herds of sheep and goats transformed large areas of the Mediterranean mountain landscape into forest with dense undergrowth and scrub. These landscapes are particularly susceptible to large fires and extremely dry summers due to climate change increase the chances of this. But with the return of native herbivores such as deer, ibex, wild horses and wild cattle, semi-natural landscapes, which are much less vulnerable to fires, are once again formed.