Won over fire: the grazing alternative to brush clearing that gets ignored

No money to clear brush: extensive livestock farming as a firebreak

What can be done when there is no budget to mechanically clear the thousands of hectares of woodland that burn every summer in Spain? The answer that has long been championed in rural communities: triple extensive livestock farming. Goats and sheep, the traditional firebreak, are once again the only alternative that daily life refuses to let us ignore. With forestry crews in short supply and machines unaffordable, grazing stands out as the most cost-effective and proven method for reducing the vegetation that fuels major wildfires.

The criticism points squarely at the authorities: years of hounding the families who kept the trade alive, funding for brush-clearing companies that squander public money, and the spread of the wolf, which ends up wiping out small livestock. A combination that leaves the countryside unmaintained and traditional controlled burns outside the law. "There is no money and no people to clear the brush," sums up the most combative stance.

The obstacles, however, are far from minor. Scrubland serves ecological functions for biodiversity, and putting livestock on land that has not been grazed for decades is not free: multi-million-euro subsidies, friction with the cattle lobby, and environmentalists who frown upon replacing natural vegetation. Moreover, after a fire, pastures would return that favour deer or the introduction of European bison, argue those who see benefits in fire.

The conclusion? While the debate rages over whether to import goats from Segarro or create a sheep lobby, the countryside keeps waiting for someone to clear it. And it burns. Until the political agenda discovers that extensive livestock farming is not a whim, shepherds know exactly who should be holding the pruning shears.