A project is underway in Spain to evaluate a new method of preventing and controlling wildfires through highly organized cattle management, according to the International Fire & Safety Journal.

Spain's Andalusia region has experienced a sustained uptick in wildfires that are "increasingly virulent and prolonged due to climate change," per the regional news outlet Sur in English.

As wildfires occur more frequently, the region has explored advanced technology such as artificial intelligence-powered drones to monitor and combat the conflagrations. This year, Andalusia's wildfire season started a month early, in May, emphasizing the need for a more robust approach.

The Silvopastoralism Operational Group, a collaboration between local ranchers and the University of Jaén, devised another novel technique for wildfire mitigation, combining a nature-based strategy known as silvopastoralism with digital tracking methods for livestock.

Silvopasture is a type of agroforestry that integrates pastures, trees, and livestock in a carefully curated balance with local ecosystems. By itself, silvopasture is an ostensibly low-tech way to mitigate the effects of rising temperatures, and it's not a new concept.

What is new, however, is the Silvopastoralism Operational Group's introduction of agriculture-centric technology to digitize that approach.

"Smart collars" for livestock not only gather biometric data and track grazing patterns but also emit a beep to nudge cattle into carefully constructed borders. Those borders involve "virtual fencing," a cutting-edge agricultural advance that reduces or eliminates the need for physical fences.

Virtual fences use sounds (such as a beep) and physical stimuli (such as a "mild electric jolt") to contain and guide cattle. Consequently, cows and other livestock can "graze independently" away from "high-risk fire zones" — and ranchers can manage it all remotely via an app.

The project's organizers said the combination of silvopasture and new digital tools boasts benefits beyond wildfire mitigation, ones that can benefit ranchers and consumers alike.

Among those benefits is the potential to offer consumers "full traceability" for meat and dairy cultivated under the practice, as the smart collars can create a sourcing record. Researchers indicated that functionality could "create new opportunities for rural economies and market differentiation."

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Overall, the initiative "has demonstrated its potential to revitalize rural areas … through the digitalization of grazing, enabling the development of a viable livestock sector based on environmental and economic sustainability and its role in fire prevention," said agricultural engineer and project researcher Rafael López Nieto.

Although the group's silvopasture demonstration was recent, suggesting the approach is not yet in widespread use, there's strong evidence for its viability outside the pilot project. A March 2024 study in Scientific Reports closely examined silvopasture as a fire mitigation strategy.

"These findings point to the integrated nature of silvopasture, where management of overstory composition and structure, understory vegetation, and grazing can reduce fuel loads and potential wildfire risk," the study's authors concluded.

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