Strategic Action Plan

Strategic Action Plan for the adaptation of extensive livestock farming to climate change in mediterranean europe

The objective of this Strategic Action Plan is to make the policy recommendations as concrete and useful as possible. To do this, in this section we identify the most relevant policies, strategies, and regulations that are currently determining the context of extensive livestock farming and its immediate future.

This Strategic Action Plan proposes a series of measures for the adaptation of extensive livestock farming to climate change, these measures have been specified in 171 actions structured in 12 lines of strategic action.

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KEY LINES

I.A. Differentiation of extensive livestock farming

Necessary actions for differentiation of extensive livestock farming
I.A.1	Establish a clear and consensual definition of extensiveness, based on joint work with the extensive livestock sector, adapting said definition to the characteristics of each territory and type of animal managed.
I.A.2	Develop a differentiated political framework that includes its main characteristics and specificities as a basis for developing its adaptive potential and its capacity as a mitigation tool.
I.A.3	Legally recognize the specificities of extensive livestock farming, clearly differentiating it from other livestock modalities, adopting as starting criteria the territorial base, the low level of external inputs, grazing and the sustainability of the activity.
I.A.4	Recognize the specific characteristics of extensive livestock farming, such as the mobility of livestock, the management capacity of vegetation and habitats, and integration with agricultural flows, which favor its adaptation to climate change and its mitigation potential.
I.A.5	Establish the necessary mechanisms for the certification of the activity and its derived products.
I.A.6	Guarantee that this definition is incorporated into the different regulations that affect the activity, such as hygienic-sanitary regulations, animal health regulations, etc.
I.A.7	Guarantee that this definition is assumed by the different European institutions and that, therefore, they produce reports in which extensive and intensive livestock activity is differentiated when assigning climatic and environmental responsibilities.
I.A.8	Guarantee that this differentiation is reflected in the statistical content of an agricultural nature.
I.A.9	Guarantee that this differentiation is assumed by the organizations that represent the sector such as agrarian unions, associations and NGOs.
I.A.10	Move towards such a definition materializing in a certification of extensive livestock products that allow their differentiated treatment for consumption.

I.B. Fair and differentiated allocation of climate responsibility of extensive livestock farming

Necessary actions for differentiation of extensive livestock farming

I.B.1	Strengthen scientific research in relation to the carbon sequestration capacity in soils and pastures or crops.
I.B.2	Strengthen scientific research in relation to the relationship of livestock and their different forms of management with the dynamics of greenhouse gas flows.
I.B.3	Generate and/or update models and tools for calculating the carbon footprint that incorporate knowledge about the specific characteristics of extensive livestock farming as differentiated from industrial meat and milk production.
I.B.4	Promote/monitor the use of tools for calculating the carbon footprint that assume a life cycle analysis (LCA) perspective, incorporating issues such as the impacts of the production and transport of livestock feed components.
I.B.5	Generate accessible and open national databases for calculating the content of organic matter in soils.
I.B.6	Improve international/European databases and tools for the study of soils such as SoilGrids or LUCAS (Land use and land cover survey).
I.B.7	Incorporate new knowledge about climate responsibility and the mitigating potential of extensive livestock farming in the reports and policies of European administrations and member countries, particularly in relation to Climate Change Strategies.

I.C. Recognition and maximization of environmental services provided by extensive livestock farming

Necessary actions for the recognition and maximization of environmental services provided by extensive livestock farming
I.C.1	Promote the use of livestock in the maintenance of public infrastructure such as high voltage networks, road infrastructure or parks and gardens.
I.C.2	Recognize the value of extensive livestock and pastoralism in the generation of landscapes of ecological and cultural interest.
I.C.3	Establish mechanisms for the payment of environmental services provided by extensive livestock farming.
I.C.4	Assign a fair water footprint to extensive livestock farming and clearly differentiate it from industrial livestock farming associated with major impacts on water resources.
I.C.5	Recognize and claim the relevance of extensive livestock farming for the food sovereignty of Europe and its member countries.
I.C.6	Recognize the role of extensive livestock in maintaining and restoring the productive potential of agricultural soils and claim its relevance in a global context of mineral fertilizer crisis.
I.C.7	Guarantee forest management, environmental conservation and agricultural support regulations that incorporate knowledge about the environmental benefits of extensive livestock farming.
I.C.8	Value the cultural heritage of extensive livestock and pastoralism in the different territories.
I.C.9	Recognize the irreplaceable value of livestock in fire control by promoting the incorporation of this activity in fire management plans.
I.C.10	Strengthen scientific research in the knowledge of the environmental services provided by extensive livestock farming.

I.C.11	Promote the training and awareness of society in general and of professionals in the livestock sector regarding the environmental services provided by extensive livestock farming.
I.C.12	Promote the training and awareness of society in general and professionals in the livestock sector regarding the importance of extensive livestock farming in fire prevention
I.C.13	Recognize the importance of fire in the management of land, advancing towards models of land management that are not suppressive in terms of its use.
I.C.14	Promote and facilitate the relationship between agricultural and livestock activity, understanding the synergistic benefits that are established between both activities.

POLITICAL-ECONOMIC SUPPORT LINES

II.A Highlighting the primary sector accompanied by economic, fiscal and financial support

Necessary actions to increase the value of the primary sector accompanied by economic, fiscal and financial support
II.A.1	Raise awareness among professionals in the sector, administrations and society as a whole about the value of the primary sector in food sovereignty, the demographic challenge, the supply of raw materials and the eco-social transition.
II.A.2	Raise awareness, train and address with shared plans the abandonment of rural areas and agricultural and livestock professions.
II.A.3	Facilitate access to land and communal infrastructure, particularly for young people and new farmers.
II.A.4	Value uses, customs and traditional knowledge as inspiring knowledge towards sustainability and economic autonomy.
II.A.5	Improve understanding and raise awareness of the relevance of the primary sector as a generator of landscape and territorial identity.
II.A.6	Implement measures to favor the settling of new settlers in rural areas, facilitating access to land, infrastructure and housing.
II.A.7	Favor the constitution of municipal banks for housing and productive land.
II.A.8	Integrate the importance and value of the primary sector into educational programs, showing agricultural professions as attractive, relevant, healthy and satisfying options.

II.A.9	Strengthen the bonds of mutual responsibility between urban and rural areas.
II.A.10	Promote the provision of necessary resources in rural areas to promote primary activity, food processing and short-chain marketing.
II.A.11	Implement participatory processes from the sector and the rural population for the co-management of funds aimed at rural development so that these really respond to the needs of the rural population.
II.A.12	Implement measures to reduce bureaucratization in the agricultural sector, particularly with regard to certifications, hygienic-sanitary regulations and short-channel marketing.
II.A.13	Implement measures to critically review the extent to which the digitization of bureaucratic processes is creating a new barrier for producers, as identified by the sector.
II.A.14	Establish measures for better coordination between the Demographic Challenge Service and other administrations.
II.A.15	Favor/force a clear commitment on the part of the regional administrations to establish agroecological criteria in the public purchase of breaths, both to guarantee that public money makes a clear commitment to regional agricultural production, and to the protection of regional economies as well as to the educational value of food to disseminate and raise awareness of the relevance of production models in shaping the territory, health, the local economy and food sovereignty.
II.A.16	Implement measures for the accompaniment of the new settlers in the livestock and agricultural activity.
II.A.17	Establish a favorable taxation of the activities of the primary sector and rural entrepreneurship.

II.B Adaptation of the CAP to the specific needs of extensive livestock farming

Necessary actions to adapt the CAP to the specific needs of extensive livestock farming
II.B.1	Guarantee a process carefully chosen by the sector in the drafting and approval of the National Strategic Plans of the CAP.
II.B.2	Carry out a critical review of the texts of the National Strategic Plan of the CAP, guaranteeing that the budget distribution actually supports the sustainability objectives reflected in the National Strategic Plans of the CAP.
II.B.3	Move towards the bureaucratic simplification of CAP procedures, avoiding unassisted compulsory digitization and harmonizing procedures between regions and with other procedures necessary for livestock activity.
II.B.4	Move towards the harmonization of periods in which applications for the CAP are made with the periods of land lease.
II.B.5	Guarantee participation processes with the sector that facilitate the creation of a CAP at the service of the needs of each territory.
II.B.6	Unify the criteria for the admissibility of pastures among the different member countries and improve the national information systems that allow their monitoring.
II.B.7	Promote the use of more rustic and resistant breeds, stopping the current tendency to replace them.
II.B.8	Guarantee that at least all the pastures within the Natura 2000 Network are within the Direct Aid of the CAP.
II.B.9	Check that the Basic Income Payments (Direct Payments) are quantitatively similar for extensive livestock production than for agricultural production (currently in Spain they are 250% lower).
II.B.10	Review the Pasture Admissibility Coefficient, understanding that in extensive livestock farming in Mediterranean areas, the incorporation of trees into grazing areas is one of the fundamental tools in the adaptation of extensive livestock farming to climate change.
II.B.11	Adapt the CAP rules to the needs of livestock mobility by assigning unique farm codes per farm independent of the temporary unification of herds.
II.B.12	Make agricultural and livestock uses of the land compatible without losing support from the CAP, understanding that the integration of both activities, for example in the use of stubble, is essential for closing nutrient cycles and moving towards circular economies.
II.B.13	Work so that the Eco-scheme for extensive livestock, like other payment mechanisms for environmental services, has the participation of the sector in all phases of its design, evaluation and monitoring.

II.C Improvement of inter-administrative coordination and territorial integration for the harmonization of standards

Actions necessary to improve inter-administrative coordination and territorial integration for the harmonization of standards
II.C.1	Promote the national harmonization of the basic laws that affect the extensive livestock sector, such as, for example, in relation to health regulations and the custody of cattle trails.
II.C.2	Boost and encourage inter-autonomous and inter-ministerial coordination structures for the harmonization of support for extensive livestock farming.
II.C.3	Reward/encourage administrative staff willing to establish alliances and collaborations between administrations.
II.C.4	Approach the of Regional and Local Cooperation, as those responsible for coordinating regulations that affect several communities, so that they assume responsibility for voluntary newsletters between competent authorities, thus avoiding repetitive work between territories (Spanish context).
II.C.5	Establish the necessary mechanisms to encourage inter-departmental coordination within a ministry itself.
II.C.6	Establish participatory processes for the harmonization of forest, agricultural and environmental conservation regulations for the protection and promotion of extensive livestock farming.
II.C.7	Establish the necessary mechanisms for the incorporation of qualified technical personnel in interministerial coordination meetings that facilitate addressing each specific issue with sufficient perspective and depth.
II.C.8	Promote a review and subsequent simplification and streamlining of the bureaucratic processes that affect the livestock sector, also avoiding their mandatory digitization.
II.C.9	Support the structuring of the sector by promoting sectoral unionism, cooperation and associationism.
II.C.10	Promote plans and actions of governance and social participation at the territorial level, establishing bridges of obligatory transit between local and regional administrations and the interests of the sector, as a mechanism to avoid the homogenization of policies in heterogeneous environments.
II.C.11	Foster an interministerial consensus around the priority of land use for food production.
II.C.12	Establish control and maintenance measures for livestock trails and their associated infrastructure, sanctioning their usurpation.

II.C.13

Identify and disseminate successful experiences of support from the administration to extensive livestock, establishing the necessary measures to give them support that ensures their continuity over time and for their replication in other contexts and territories.

II.D Training and awareness of professionals in the sector involved in the regulations that affect extensive livestock farming

Actions necessary for training and awareness of professionals in the sector involved in the regulations that affect extensive livestock farming
II.D.1	Implement training plans on participatory planning and co-governance aimed at administration professionals.
II.D.2	Raise awareness and train professionals in the sector about the importance of extensive livestock farming in the conservation of biodiversity, ecosystems and the landscape
II.D.3	Implement training plans aimed at Environment Agents, forestry personnel and animal health personnel on livestock mobility and other specific needs of extensive livestock farming.
II.D.4	Implement more flexible forestry plans, which include concepts of adaptation to climate change such as the need for regeneration of trees linked to the dehesa/montado and pastures, the management of new pests and diseases of the tree substrate derived from climate change or the incorporation of new forest species adapted to the new climate scenarios of the future.

II.D.5	Raise awareness and promote training plans on the synergistic relationship between agriculture and livestock in relation to the closure of ecological cycles, the intelligent management of soil fertility and progress towards circular economies.
II.D.6	Raise awareness and train the personnel involved in the ecological certification processes in the specific characteristics and difficulties of extensive livestock farming.
II.D.7	Support and promote the generation of the sector around extensive livestock (trade unions, cooperatives and associations) that enables its representation when establishing territorial policies and negotiating regulations that affect it.
II.D.8	Make technical personnel aware of the need to clear abandoned land for access to livestock, facilitating administrative processes for this purpose.
II.D.9	Train in the understanding of fire as a tool for managing the land, generating alliances between fire prevention services and farmers.
II.D.10	Train animal health personnel on the specific needs of extensive livestock farming and on the incorporation of protocols for the early detection of new diseases in animals derived from climate change.
II.D.11	Implement plans for research and inventory of traditional knowledge of the rural and agrarian world identified with great potential for adaptation to climate change.
II.D.12	Raise awareness about the import of traditional knowledge as sources of inspiration for energy and food sovereignty and the development of new technologies for adaptation (livestock mobility, botanical knowledge, biodegradable and territorially based materials, etc.).
II.D.13	Train and implement protection measures for transhumance, transterminance and grazing in general.
II.D.14	Raise awareness and offer training in the need for extensive livestock farming to coexist with wild species such as the wolf or the bear.

II.E Support for the differentiated commercialization and promotion of extensive livestock products

Actions necessary to support the differentiated marketing and promotion of extensive livestock products
II.E.1	Make society in general aware of the environmental and social values of extensive livestock farming and of the importance, therefore, of supporting it through the consumption of its products. Promotion and publicity.
II.E.2	Raise awareness in society about the best nutritional characteristics and organoleptic quality of food products derived from extensive livestock. Promotion and publicity.
II.E.3	Raise awareness of the links of responsibility and interdependence between the urban and rural areas.
II.E.4	Inform and sensitize the consumer on the seasonality of the products to facilitate the coupling between market demand and the availability of pastures.
II.E.5	Develop the necessary regulations for the differentiation of extensive production and associate it with its own certification. Differentiated labelling.
II.E.6	Simplify and make administrative and health regulations more flexible to facilitate proximity sales channels and food and health quality.
II.E.7	Protect, promote and improve municipal or cooperative infrastructures that allow the transformation of livestock products such as slaughterhouses, cutting rooms, wool washers or dairies.
II.E.8	Promote and facilitate the use of mobile slaughterhouses
II.E.9	Promote and facilitate the transformation and sale of livestock products on the farms themselves.
II.E.10	Promote and facilitate tourism experiences integrated with livestock activity.
II.E.11	Promote the integration of extensive livestock products within quality gastronomy, with an impact on the hospitality and tourism sectors.
II.E.12	Generate spaces for reflection, dialogue and cooperation.

II.E.13	Support the structuring of the sector by promoting sectoral unionism, cooperativism and partnership.
II.E.14	Condition a public food purchase that promotes support for extensive livestock farming.
II.E.15	Evaluate and move towards a tax system that rewards the environmental services provided by sustainable agricultural products.

LINES AIMED AT IMPROVING MANAGEMENT AND HANDLING

III.A Improving the adaptability of livestock farms

Actions necessary to improve the adaptability of livestock farms to climate change at the farm level
III.A.1	Improve and strengthen training and advisory services (AKIS).
III.A.2	Improve the health management and welfare of animals by adapting health criteria to the specific characteristics of extensive livestock farming and adaptation needs.
III.A.3	Implement measures aimed at improving the management and surveillance of the appearance and transmission of emerging diseases. Promote biosecurity measures.
III.A.4	Promote the use and protection of rustic livestock breeds
III.A.5	Offer training and administrative and logistical facilities so that livestock mobility in search of fresh pastures and water resources is an easily accessible adaptation mechanism.
III.A.6	Provide tree farms and shelters for shade.
III.A.7	Implement training and support plans for the improvement of pastures and the inclusion of palatable tree and shrub plants.
III.A.8	Implement training and support plans aimed at improving forage autonomy on farms, optimizing hay production and storage.

III.A.9	Implement training and support plans to promote holistic management and rotational grazing, more actively controlling stocking rates, pasture regeneration and soil protection.
III.A.10	Raise awareness of the importance of soil care as a key resource for the sustainability of farms.
III.A.11	Implement legal and regulatory measures that put a brake on harmful practices for soil fertility and soil biodiversity.
III.A.12	Offer training and aid for the implementation of water corrections that prevent the loss of fertile soil (braking gullies).
III.A.13	Implement training plans and specific support for the incorporation and improvement of measures for the capture and storage of water on farms.
III.A.14	Offer training and administrative and logistical facilities.
III.A.15	Assess the application of more flexible regulations regarding the inclusion of new tree and grazing species better adapted to arid conditions and high temperatures.
III.A.16	Improve studies and the application of regulations for a better adjustment of stocking rates to the spatial and temporal characteristics of each type of pasture and exploitation.
III.A.17	Include the hunting population within the calculations of the stocking rate for a better management of land resources.
III.A.18	Integrate the needs for the use of fire in livestock farms with fire prevention plans, understanding that the use of fire can be a key ally in the management of some tree pests and in fire prevention itself.
III.A.19	Offer training and administrative and logistical facilities for the integration of agriculture and livestock as a synergistic alliance in the use of food resources and the management of soil fertility.
III.A.20	Implement mechanisms to facilitate access to communal pastures and forests, as well as to protected and reserved areas.
III.A.21	Implement coordination plans between livestock associations, associations of forest owners, communal land managers and municipal land managers (city councils) for a common and integrated territorial strategy.
III.A.22	Implement mechanisms to support pastoral and autonomous logics against the logics of dependency on inputs and globalization.
III.A.23	Improve the profitability of farms as a measure to improve their investment capacity in mechanisms for adapting to climate change.

III.B Improvement in water management according to the adaptation needs

Actions necessary to improve water management
III.B.1	Train and promote water conservation and rational management in the primary sector, assuming responsibility for adaptation to a future scenario of greater aridity.
III.B.2	Promote the establishment of a fair water footprint for extensive livestock farming, clearly differentiated from the water footprint of industrial livestock farming.
III.B.3	Implement measures to improve governance in relation to the use and care of water resources, establishing lines of coordination and collaboration between the sector, water administration and environmental administration on one hand, and on the other, establish participation processes with the sector that make possible the inclusion of their needs when it comes to properly managing water resources.
III.B.4	Improve the control mechanisms over water quality, paying attention to polluting discharges and the use of illegal phytotoxic substances or those above the permitted levels.
III.B.5	Improve control mechanisms on the use of groundwater by controlling illegal drilling and rationing extraction volumes in legal drilling.
III.B.6	Improve technical support for the implementation of adequate territorial policies regarding water management.
III.B.7	Improve technical and economic support for the establishment on farms of the various mechanisms for adapting extensive livestock to climate change, including improving rainwater infiltration, water collection and storage on farms.
III.B.8	Raise awareness about soil health care as a basic mechanism to improve water infiltration and conservation and the maintenance of healthier and fresher pastures.
III.B.9	Improve knowledge and its application in terms of vegetation management and the need to conserve water, understanding that sometimes vegetation can be an ally in preventing evaporation of captured water, but on other occasions it can accelerate evapotranspiration and play a role as a competitor with water resources.
III.B.10	Improve knowledge and the applicability of mechanisms to improve the potability of water.
III.B.11	Support and facilitate the management of pastures to incorporate species with better water efficiency, also applying rotational grazing techniques adapted to the water availability of the pasture.

III.B.12	Promote the establishment of measures to control the access of wildlife to water sources used by livestock, both to avoid competition for the resource and the health problems it often causes.
III.B.13	Support and facilitate livestock mobility as a key mechanism in adapting to the availability of water resources and fresh pastures.
III.B.14	Identify, protect and recover those traditional water management practices of great value for adaptation to periods of water scarcity, such as key lines, mountain fisheries, ditch systems.
III.B.15	Identify and promote those water management practices that involve humble technologies, of free access and management and that respond to territorialized logics, adapted to the edaphic, climatic, geological and cultural context of the areas in which it is applied.

III.C Recognition, facilitation and support for livestock mobility

Actions necessary for the recognition, facilitation and support of livestock mobility
III.C.1	Improve knowledge about transhumance (registration of transhumant farmers, identification of areas, valorization of environmental services, among other issues).
III.C.2	Promote the recognition of mobility as a fundamental characteristic of extensive livestock farming.
III.C.3	Organize and promote training plans for environmental agents and veterinarians on the importance of livestock mobility.
III.C.4	Promote social awareness and recognition of the cultural and environmental values of livestock mobility.
III.C.5	Promote and reward the transfer of private land for grazing.
III.C.6	Guarantee and promote the access of livestock to public and communal forests.
III.C.7	Design and promote training plans for shepherds for mobility.
III.C.8	Establish plans for the support, with adequate resources and personnel, for livestock mobility, evaluating the possibility of assigning assistant shepherds.
III.C.9	Promote studies and participatory processes aimed at identifying and correcting those regulations that are promoting the sedentarization, simplification and intensification of livestock farms.
III.C.10	Establish and promote recovery plans for the lost ravines, as well as their associated infrastructure, such as water points, shelters, homes, closures or boundaries.
III.C.11	Promote the reform of those sanitary norms that imply the immobilization of livestock while incorporating sanitary certification mechanisms that facilitate livestock mobility.
III.C.12	Promote the specific recognition of the figure of transhumant shepherd
III.C.13	Promote the recognition of transhumance as intangible heritage of humanity
III.C.14	Prohibit and monitor the use of herbicides in livestock routes
III.C.15	Prohibit and monitor the cementation of livestock roads
III.C.16	Adapt the allocation of farm codes to livestock mobility, establishing a single code regardless of the location of the herd.
III.C.17	Review the regional standards for ecological certification so that they are consistent with the needs of mobile livestock, understanding the use of stubble fields, the use of communal forests or the use of pastures on the road between farms as a specific and necessary part of the activity.

LINES FOR REINFORCEMENT OF RESEARCH AND STRENGTHENING OF THE SOCIAL FABRIC

IV.A Reinforcement of research, transfer and monitoring for the adaptation of extensive livestock farming to climate change

Actions necessary to strengthen research, transfer and monitoring for the adaptation of extensive livestock farming to climate change
IV.A.1	Funding for research and transfer on carbon footprint and life cycle analysis of extensive livestock.
IV.A.2	Funding for research and transfer on the water footprint of extensive livestock.
IV.A.3	Funding for research and transfer in terms of carbon sequestration in soils, their fertility and the relationship between livestock and the dynamics of edaphic organic matter.
IV.A.4	Funding for research and transfer in management of pastures and forage plants that are complementary and adapted to climate change.
IV.A.5	Funding for research and transfer in the field of water management.
IV.A.6	Funding for research and transfer in animal health in the context of climate change.
IV.A.7	Funding for research and transfer in the management of underground aquifer resources and water pollution.
IV.A.8	Funding for research and transfer on the hardiness of native breeds and adaptability to climate change.
IV.A.9	Funding for research and transfer of traditional socio-cultural heritage that can be used and updated for the adaptation of extensive livestock farming to climate change.
IV.A.10	Implementation of surveillance and monitoring programs for new diseases in animals and vegetation.
IV.A.11	Implementation of surveillance and monitoring programs for the use of pastures and their evolution in the context of climate change.
IV.A.12	Mapping, surveillance and monitoring of the state and use of cattle trails
IV.A.13	Establishing scientific-technical commissions that support the administration for regulations and management consistent with current knowledge.

IV.B Measures to reinforce the social fabric and governance to adopt an inclusive adaptation strategy at the sector level

Actions to strengthen the social fabric and governance to adopt an inclusive adaptation strategy at the sector level
IV.B.1	Promote and finance formal participatory processes and revitalization in rural areas for the implementation of sectoral associations and shared work spaces in the livestock sector.
IV.B.2	Integrate the extensive livestock sector through territorial representatives in the different management bodies of natural spaces (patronages), parks, etc.
IV.B.3	Provide greater transparency and generate information tools in relation to territorial planning and management that allow easy and useful access to all the information that concerns the sector.
IV.B.4	Generate and promote the appropriate conditions so that there is representativeness of the local livestock sector in territorial management. Promote monitoring bodies that develop monitoring, implementation, communication and governance tasks.
IV.B.5	Generate tools and processes for training, education and revitalization in the field of social participation.
IV.B.6	Promote a Monitoring Body, with budgetary allocation and legally standardized, for the development and implementation of this Action Plan made up of all the key agents in the sector.
IV.B.7	Develop communication campaigns that allow responsible technicians to approach good practices in relation to participation and governance in environmental, health, territorial management and planning, etc.