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Organisation of a sheep transhumance in order to maintain remarkable natural environments
Published on 16 May 2018
France
caroline delelis
About this good practice
Eco-pasturing is an alternative management technique essential to avoiding the closing of certain environments and hiking paths and the loss of biodiversity, which plays a primordial role in ecosystems. It seeks to preserve the flora and fauna of these environments, reintegrating animal and vegetable species into the site.
Eco-pasturing is thus a condition necessary to the sustainable maintenance of these environments.
Boulonnais sheep are a local breed of the Hauts-de-France region. Considered extinct in the 1980s, it owes its revival to the joint efforts of the Regional Centre of Genetic Resources and a group of motivated breeders, today united within the Boulonnais Sheep Association, a national selection agency for the breed.
Eco-pasturing is thus a condition necessary to the sustainable maintenance of these environments.
Boulonnais sheep are a local breed of the Hauts-de-France region. Considered extinct in the 1980s, it owes its revival to the joint efforts of the Regional Centre of Genetic Resources and a group of motivated breeders, today united within the Boulonnais Sheep Association, a national selection agency for the breed.
Resources needed
ENRx's Regional Centre of Genetic Resources, in conjunction with the Regional Natural Park of the Caps et Marais d'Opale and EDEN 62, are initiating extensive eco-pasturing operations on sensitive natural spaces of the department and initiating pasturing on the Cap Blanc-Nez.
Evidence of success
The economic impact of eco-pasturing on the Cap Blanc Nez is real and measured as it allows multiple farmers to generate a revenue stream from their sheep breeding and contributes to the maintenance of their farms. The site of the Cap Blanc Nez contributes in the order of 50 to 60% to the professional network, "Boulonnais Sheep, the Sheep of the land of the North".
Potential for learning or transfer
We have revived a regional breed menaced with extinction by bringing together breeders, a professional network, restaurateurs and natural site managers.
Further information
Website
Good practice owner
Organisation
Espaces Naturels Régionaux
France
Contact
caroline delelis