Restoration of Sheep Transhumance In The Ebro Valley, Aragon, Spain

Bibliographic Data

ID4488709
AuthorsPatrick O''Flanagan, Patrick O’flanagan (University College Cork), Patrick O'Flanagan (Professor emeritus of geography at University College Cork, Cork, Ireland; [[email protected]].), Teodoro Luque Martínez (0000-0002-9658-8069, Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología), Teodoro Lasanta Martínez (Research scientist at the Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología (CSIC), 50080, Zaragoza, Spain; [[email protected]].), María Paz Errea Abad (0000-0003-3346-1957, Manager at the Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología (CSIC), 50080, Zaragoza, Spain; [[email protected]].)
Year2011
Volume101
Issue4
Pages556-575
Publication date2011-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGeographical Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0016-7428 • E-ISSN: 1931-0846
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1931-0846.2011.00117.x
OpenAlexW2015292378
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited30

For centuries, sheep transhumance has connected the Spanish highlands with the lowlands, creating a livestock system with important social, economic, cultural, and landscape effects. About 5 million sheep were involved in transhumant movements in the mid‐1700s, but transhumance started to decay in the nineteenth century and almost disappeared in the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1980s, transhumant sheep did not number more than 25,000 in the study area; at present the number exceeds 134,000, with herders practicing both descending and ascending transhumance. In this article we provide information not only on current numbers of transhumant sheep but also on the origins and destinations of the flocks. We also confirm that the reputation of transhumance, once regarded as quaint and antiquated, has been enhanced by the ecosystem services it provides and by the cultural and heritage continuities it renders.Common Agricultural Policylivestock systemsPyreneessheep transhumanceSpain Additional informationNotes on contributorsPatrick O'FlanaganThis study has been conducted in the framework of the following research projects: Procesos y Balances de Sedimentos a Diferentes Escalas Espaciales en Ambientes Mediterráneos: Efectos de las Fluctuaciones Climáticas y de los Cambios de Uso del Suelo (cgl2006–11619/hid), and Análisis de Escenarios de Riesgo a Escala Nacional y Global (cgl2008–01083/cli), both financed by the Research and Development National Scheme (Plan Nacional de I+D). It has also received support from the Programa de Grupos de Investigación Consolidados, financed by the Government of Aragon

Agroforestry · Archaeology · Biology · Destinations · Flock · Geography · Livestock · Pastoralism · Tourism · Agriculture and Rural Development Research · Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management · Ecology · Forestry · Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology

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