A new proposal seeks European Union financial backing for using livestock to reduce fire hazards across high-risk rural areas.
Portugal proposes EU funding for livestock grazing to prevent wildfires
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At an informal meeting of ministers in Dublin, Portugal’s Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, José Manuel Fernandes, put forward a proposal for the European Union budget to fund livestock grazing to prevent wildfires in high-risk territories.
As Politico reports, under this scheme, herds of goats, cattle and sheep would be deployed to consume shrubs and brushwood, thereby decreasing the volume of flammable vegetation that enables destructive fires to spread.
National funding currently supports similar grazing programmes in Portugal and select regions of Spain. According to Fernandes, elevating this strategy to a broader European level is essential, as fire prevention serves the common interest of the entire European Union and directly aids in curbing carbon emissions.
[See more: Portugal’s ancient olive trees continue to thrive after millennia]
This proposal arrives during delicate negotiations over the next long-term budget for the EU, a time when several member nations are pushing to trim spending on traditional focus areas, including cohesion policy and agriculture.
Funding livestock grazing to prevent wildfires in rural areas
In response to proposed budget reductions, Fernandes alongside other ministers stressed that continued support for the agricultural sector is vital for preparing food systems and rural landscapes for increasingly extreme weather conditions. The Portuguese minister noted that 42 percent of the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU is already designated for environmental goals.
As a potential source of funding, Fernandes suggested utilising capital from the EU Emissions Trading System for livestock grazing to prevent wildfires, observing that its financial resources are currently allocated to lower emissions within the transport sector.
Reinforcing the focus on climate readiness, Christophe Hansen, the European commissioner for agriculture and food, affirmed that preparations on farms for future droughts must be reinforced. Among the key priorities identified by Hansen were ensuring sufficient water supplies for firefighting operations and maintaining field irrigation during extended dry spells across vulnerable agricultural areas.
