One in three habitats protected under EU law depends on low-intensity grazing. According to a European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing published today, 10–15% of all EU cattle, sheep and goats are needed to maintain habitats protected under the EU Habitats Directive through low-intensity grazing.
Economic pressures and technological change have led to a strong shift to intensive modern farming systems, with livestock housed for most or all the year. This shift in farming system has led to land abandonment in habitats which depend on grazing.
The European Environment Agency’s briefing ‘Extensive livestock systems and nature in Europe‘ shows that the European Union’s (EU) habitats that would benefit from grazing or mowing occupy a substantial area: at least 35 million hectares, equivalent to about 22% of the total official farmland area.
The EEA has estimated that about 10-15% of the EU-27’s total ruminant livestock (cattle, sheep and goats) would be sufficient to manage the area of grazing-dependent protected habitats, if distributed appropriately. This corresponds to around 7.8 million animals across the EU-27 countries.
The decline of extensive grazing in Europe
The number of extensive and mixed-livestock farms has declined by more than 70% between 2010 and 2020, according to analysis by the European Commission.
Moreover, a large proportion of the intensive livestock systems are concentrated in the EU’s most productive areas, whereas extensive grazing-based systems are mostly found in less productive, more remote regions.
The decline of extensive livestock systems, and the potential geographic mismatch between livestock and habitats location, increases the risk of abandonment of habitat types that depend on grazing or mowing to survive.
Grazing helps protect ecosystems and species
Grazing by domestic livestock (such as cattle, sheep, goats and horses) has played an important role, traditionally, in shaping European ecosystems and reducing the risk of wildfires. Domestic livestock replaced the role once played by large wild grazers, such as aurochs, bison or wild horses.
Grazing animals help create structurally diverse vegetation, with a mix of dense and open forest types, and shrub- and grass-dominated areas. Grazing has fostered and continues to maintain grasslands and their associated wildflowers. Large grazers create open ground by trampling as well as digging for food, and their dung is a key food source for many insects and birds.
Grassland habitats provide a key example of the need for extensive grazing (or mowing) in Europe to help conserve many threatened species. For example, 92% of the protected butterfly species included in EU law depend on extensively managed grasslands. Furthermore, meadow birds that are dependent on permanent grassland habitats make up a high proportion of all protected birds. European semi-natural habitats support a large proportion of the continent’s endemic species — 18.1% of Europe’s endemic vascular plants are found in grassland ecosystems and 15.5% in heaths and shrub habitats.
Policy support for the livestock strategy
The European Commission is currently developing a livestock strategy that will foster the competitiveness, resilience and sustainability of the EU livestock sector and agri-food chain. The briefing published today by the EEA shows how a well planned grazing strategy could benefit European ecosystems and wild species as well.
At the same time, the briefing supports the implementation of the EU’s biodiversity strategy for 2030 and the Nature Restoration Regulation.
