UAM | Learning ecology with a flock of sheep. Come to be a berger for a day!

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The LIFE Cañadas Project investigates the role of extensive and transhumant livestock farming in the maintenance of Iberian rural landscapes, the sustainable use of ecosystem goods and services provided by our rural and natural environment, and its importance in maintaining biological connectivity between spaces of high nature value. In order for the participants to understand the importance of cattle trails and the shepherd's job in ecological functionality, an informative activity has been designed throughout a small movement of a sheep herd through the UAM campus. With the help of fences and livestock road signs, we will trace a route in which the participants will guide the herd between two points on the campus. They will have the explanations and supervision of a shepherd and his dogs, and we will provide them with an educational brochure. Throughout it we will give you explanations about the signage of the livestock trails and we will show you the ecological importance of transhumance and the socioeconomic potential that is associated with it and could be key to facing the demographic challenge of rural Spain.