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Pastoreo en Red
This is an initiative of our subsidiary Red Eléctrica to control vegetation under the transmission grid lines with extensive livestock.
The initiative responds to our commitment to make our facilities compatible with nature and the rural environment, converting them into ecological corridors and thus reducing one of the problems of the Spanish environment: the fragmentation of habitats.
Sheep and cows instead of mechanical pruning
The roads under the power lines must be clean and accessible, both to prevent fires and to prevent vegetation from reaching the power lines and to ensure that, if necessary, maintenance teams can arrive quickly and deal with any contingencies.
With Network Grazing, instead of using chemical or mechanical means to keep vegetation at bay, ‘biological machines’ are used, i.e. sheep, goats, cows, horses .....
Networked grazing brings numerous ecosystemic benefits: the cleaning efficiency is greater, but, above all, the livestock carry out an extraordinary task of fertilising, trampling, redileo... which has a favourable effect on the flora, and therefore on the fauna, so that the passage of livestock increases biodiversity.
This has been demonstrated in a study by the University of Alcalá de Henares in Calahorra and in studies carried out by Agrovidar itself in the mountains of León.
What impacts does Pastoreo en Red generate?
1
Biodiversity
Grazed areas have higher rates of biodiversity: there is a greater presence of arthropods, butterflies, pollinators and floral units. In addition, soil fertility is maintained.
2
Forest fires
We reduce the volume of biomass and change the type of vegetation from shrub or bush substrate to herbaceous cover. As a result, there are fewer fires.
3
Climate change
We reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the maintenance activities of our facilities by abandoning mechanical or chemical means.
4
Sustainable livestock farming
We are committed to maintaining extensive livestock farming, a model that is more respectful of the environment, animal welfare and human health.
5
Rural development
We contribute to generating new sustainable employment, fixing the population and facilitating the generational replacement of traditional trades.
6
Innovation
We incorporate applied knowledge and technology through GPS collars and the use of drones in the management of extensive livestock farming.
From La Rioja to the mountains of León
Our first experience ‘shepherding the network’ began in 2019 in Calahorra, La Rioja, at the hands of a local farmer, Monín and his ‘firefighter sheep’, as he himself says.
It then expanded to the mountains of León, with Folledo and Casares de Arbas in 2022, and Rabanal de Fenar and Modino in 2023. There are currently eight areas in the mountains of León that are part of the project.
Pilot experiences have also been carried out in Galicia and are being exported to Asturias.
Video available only in Spanish.
Awards
Special mention in the Good Practice Award 2021 of the Renewables Grid Initiative platform for being a sustainable solution with a positive social and environmental impact.
In other hand, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has evaluated the Pastoreo en Red program according to its global standard. It has determined that it is a robust, sustainable, and scalable project that safeguards both people and the planet, considering it a Nature-based Solution (NbS).
‘A Practical Guide to Networked Grazing’ and ‘A Guide to Ecosystem Services Assessment’
Pilot subject matter of study at Universidad de Alcalá
Along with Universidad de Alcalá, we developed the project “Evaluation of ecosystem services arising from vegetation management in the electricity transmission network through grazing” and its practical application to the initiative “Pastoreo enRED in La Rioja”. The results have shown that the use of livestock in the maintenance of the electrical energy transmission network enhances the services of the regulatory, cultural and supply ecosystems and facilitates biodiversity and the well-being of the society.
Generational Replacement
Likewise, in order to ensure the availability of generational replacement with the necessary knowledge to facilitate the continuity of the good herd management in extensive livestock farming and the conservation of the landscapes of our villages, Red Eléctrica has worked with the Asociación Campo Adentro in the 2020 edition of the Escuela de Pastores de Madrid (School of Shepherds of Madrid.) This school is supported by the State Federation of Shepherds' Associations and the town hall of El Boalo-Cerceda and Mataelpino (Madrid).
50 students out of 130 applications received were selected to take the theoretical module; 30 of those carried out field practices.