One of the activities planned in the LIFE Maronesa project, related to actions E2 – Communication and Technical Dissemination, involved organising meetings and workshops between breeders and the technical team of the LIFE Maronesa project with the University of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia and the Pau Costa Foundation in Catalonia. In May, we visited Galicia for the first time, and in October we organised our networking activity in Catalonia.
Between 28 and 30 October, the LIFE Maronesa team, composed of Delfina Silva, Heitor Fernandes, Mário Queirós, Rafael Costa, Tommy Ferreira and Henrique Mira Godinho, travelled to Catalonia to participate in a series of exchange activities between breeders and shepherds from the Ramats de Foc and LIFE Maronesa projects. The programme, carefully planned by the Ramats de Foc team, included visits exclusively to cattle farms, but unfortunately the Catalonia region is currently on health alert due to contagious nodular dermatosis.
With the programme readjusted, the LIFE Maronesa team arrived in Barcelona late in the morning on the 28th and travelled to the Collserola Natural Park, where they began their tour in Catalonia with a visit to the Domènech Dunfoy Equestrian Centre, where they were welcomed by Paul Domènech, host of the centre, and Marc Arcarons from the Ramats de Foc project. Paul presented the work he has been doing on his private land within the Natural Park, mainly related to the management of strategic fire mitigation areas identified through the joint work of the Pau Costa Foundation and the Autonomous Region of Catalonia. Two strategies are used: the advancement and rotation of grazing of his horses with the aid of removable grazing parks; the second is the grazing of Catalan donkeys using virtual fences created through the use of No Fence GPS collars.
Domènech Dunfoy Equestrian Centre
The following morning, the team travelled to the Girona region to visit the Arkàdia ripollesa sheep farm in Mollet de Peralada, where we were welcomed by shepherd and biologist Víctor Rojas and Merlès Martínez from the Ramats de Foc project. Víctor presented his model for lamb meat production. Without any land of his own on which to carry out his activity, he uses mutually beneficial contracts to use land jointly with other private partners, such as the Celler La Vinyeta winery, where he has set up his stable for the winter season. Víctor is a transhumant shepherd and breeder of Leonese Mastiffs (which assist with travel and protection of the flock). He moves between three areas during the year: in late spring and summer, he stays with his flock in an area closer to the Pyrenees, while from early autumn to late spring, he alternates the transhumance of his flock according to the weather. When he needs to stay more sheltered from excessive humidity and precipitation, he stays on his holding in Celler La Vinyeta, and when the weather becomes more stable, he likes to take advantage of this and move to grazing areas closer to the sea, avoiding staying too long exposed to excessive humidity in order to prevent disease in his flock. Víctor also explained to the group the care and variety of his herd’s diet, where he collects cereals and other by-products from bread, beer and wine fermentation factories to provide for his animals at certain times of the year, as well as filtered sea water to cover some of their salt requirements, which are essential for their health.
On the afternoon of the 29th, the team travelled south of Girona to Gaüses to visit the Pasturabosc Malagueña goat farm, where they were welcomed by breeder Judit Nadal and Emma Soy from the Ramats de Foc project. This cheese and yoghurt production farm leases land scattered around the village of Gaüses, some closer to the farm and others further away, where every day the herd moves to one of these areas until it is necessary to move the herd to a different area with more food available. In this way, they alternate the rotation, allowing their land to rest and recover. The herd is managed using removable electric fences and guard dogs.
Early on the last day, the LIFE Maronesa team visited the Verd Clar/El Portet family grazing and rural tourism project run by Clara and Albert, who have created their rural paradise in Les Planes d’Hostoles, where they welcome visitors and tourists and work as cheese-producing shepherds with their 30 goats. These Malagueña goats graze freely on private and leased land, the entire herd is protected by guard dogs, and half of the herd is monitored by No Fence GPS collars.
Before returning to the airport at the end of the morning, there was still time for a stop at the Collaborative Butchery Room, El Tall in Marganell. This facility is a joint initiative of shepherds and livestock farmers in the Montserrat Natural Park, funded by the Natural Park itself. It allows producers to create their own brands, do their own cuts and packaging, as well as work with other commercial operators and restaurants to meet the preferences of chefs, cooks, restaurants and local consumers. This type of infrastructure enables greater profitability for producers by diversifying their sources of income, in this case, in the final product transformation chain.
