Firefighters in France and Spain are struggling to find enough airplanes to pour water on devastating wildfires. Preventing future blazes might depend on finding enough goats.
The idea of using grazing animals to create firebreaks in the landscape is gaining traction as a serious solution, officially endorsed this year by the European Commission and the top farmers’ lobby. Researchers have credited livestock eating brush with restraining the spread of fires in the Extremadura, Andalusia and Valencia regions of Spain.
Yet while the solution is low-tech, it’s not cheap, with shepherds often dependent on government subsidies to make a living. And the even bigger hurdle, fire control experts say, is politicians’ emphasis on fighting fires once they’re already lit, rather than investing in prevention.
“In the same way that we understand the need to finance firefighters, we also need to recognize the work done by shepherds,” said Jordi Vendrell, who leads the Pau Costa Foundation, a nonprofit in Spain that studies wildfire management.
