In the next iteration of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy, applicable from 2028, the Commission wants to see a “transition payment” for farmers that could be used for this purpose to support a move into shepherding, Bogey added. The EU is also working on a financial scheme with the European Investment Bank for investments in the livestock sector
Gonna need a lot of goats
In Madrid, one of the regions hardest hit by the fires, the local government is also looking to livestock grazing as fire prevention. Local farms would deploy animals to a forested area of 3,700 hectares, they announced earlier this year, costing the government €800,000. But the current fires have ravaged 27,000 hectares in the region alone.
Joe McNorton, who studies wildfires in real time at Copernicus, backs the grazing initiatives. Yet they still might not be enough in extreme situations.
“Under severe conditions, factors such as strong winds can transport burning embers ahead of the main fire front,” he said, “allowing fires to cross gaps.”
The shepherding method shouldn’t be the only solution, said Urbano Fra Paleo of Extremadura University, but there’s also no way around it. Without the grazers, the low vegetation will just keep coming back, he said.
“The decision makers do not understand this,” said Fra. They just think in terms of managing the fire when this happens, but do not think in terms of managing the landscape.”
Aitor Hernández-Morales contributed to this article.