Europe

Veronique Magnin

Rangeland Voices

Nel Cañedo, Inland-Campo Adentro Shepherds School

The Shepherds School in Spain trains existing & future shepherds, also city youth. It arranges exchanges between shepherds from different countries and facilitates pastoralist organisation in Europe and elsewhere in the world.

János Máté, Hungarian cattle herder

Traditional cattle herding: an afternoon on the pasture with the herder János Máté (Hungary). Credit: Zsolt Molnár & Dávid Pelé

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Transhumance, the seasonal droving of livestock

Each year, in spring and autumn, herders organise the movement, or transhumance, of thousands of animals along traditional pastoral paths. They move on foot or horseback, leading with their dogs and sometimes accompanied by their families. An ancestral practice, transhumance entails social practices and rituals related to the care, breeding and training of animals and the management of natural resources. Transmitted informally within families and communities, the practice strengthens cultural identity and ties between families, communities and territories while counteracting the effects of rural depopulation. Country(ies): Albania; Andorra; Austria; Croatia; France; Greece; Italy; Luxembourg; Romania; Spain.