What place for pastoral activities in the economic transformation of Vicdessos (Ariège Pyrenees)

Bibliographic Data

ID9263181
AuthorsPierre Dérioz (Université d'Avignon et des Pays de Vaucluse), Maud Loireau (0000-0001-9186-6069, Université de Perpignan), Philippe Bachimon (Acteurs, Ressources et Territoires dans le Développement), Églantine Cancel (Acteurs, Ressources et Territoires dans le Développement), David Clément (0000-0003-1451-0610)
Year2014
Volume102-2
Publication date2014-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueRevue de géographie alpine (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0035-1121 • E-ISSN: 1760-7426
PublisherOpenEdition (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.4000/rga.2398
OpenAlexW2067941222
LanguageEN
References cited16

Once a major part of life in the mountain landscapes of Vicdessos (Ariège, southwestern France), pastoral activities were marginalized when industries brought full employment to the area. The “Pechiney era” (1906-2003) was characterized by the return of fallow lands and forests on the slopes and on some valley floors. Now that this small territory is engaged in a voluntary conversion oriented towards outdoor recreational activities (Montcalm nature-sports centre), the twenty or so livestock farms still in operation seem to be the best guarantors of the landscape resource on which tourist attraction depends (village surroundings, high mountain pastures). The creation of Pastoral Land Associations around some villages reflects the awareness of this issue by elected officials, and has led to permissions for the expansion of some farms and the creation of new ones. Even though the amount of livestock is sometimes insufficient to prevent the return of brush and trees to pastures and even though the farms, some of them in economically precarious states, do not visibly take part in the new tourism system, these livestock farmers are gaining recognition for their role as landscape managers. In addition, the increased direct sales of their products and the events they organize to enlighten people of their activities (fairs, transhumance celebrations) highlight their role – material as well as symbolic – in the territory’s development. However, the issue of modalities of access to grazing lands remains crucial for this pastoral renewal, which will, in any case, have to depend on innovations (diversification of livestock, short food-supply chains, agrotourism), especially when many older livestock farmers will soon retire

Agriculture · Agroforestry · Business · Diversification (marketing strategy) · Geography · Livestock · Political science · Recreation · Resource (disambiguation) · Tourism · Agriculture and Rural Development Research · Forestry · French Urban and Social Studies · Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology

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