The director of the Biodiversity Foundation, a public foundation of the Government of Spain, under the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs, Ana Leiva, and the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Junta de Extremadura, Juan María Vázquez, have signed a collaboration agreement, framed in the Empleaverde Program, to promote the modernization of grazing in Extremadura. Likewise, both institutions will collaborate in the project “We are Dehesa”, the wild cattle as a factor of sustainable development of the dehesa habitats. Each of these institutions will allocate 300,000 euros to this initiative.

Likewise, also framed in the Empleaverde Program, an agreement has been signed with the president of the Foundation for the Development of Science and Technology in Extremadura, Luis Vázquez de Miguel, to promote the environmental efficiency of Extremadura companies. The two agreements signed in Extremadura within the empleaverde Programme represent a total amount of 1,019,730 euros.

In addition to the projects of the Extremaduran entities, the initiatives of the PREMYSA Foundation, the Healthy Life Association, the Union of Small Farmers and Ranchers, (UPA), the National Association of Aggregate Manufacturing Companies (ANEFA) and PEFC Spain, will be aimed, in part, at workers in Extremadura.

Modernization of grazing and environmental eco-efficiency of companies

The “Cayado y zurrón” project of the General Directorate of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Junta de Extremadura aims to generate lines of intervention in the livestock sector (sheep and goats) that enhance and dignify the shepherd profession. These lines are aimed at promoting and improving employment, increasing the skills and qualifications of workers, encouraging modernisation, promoting the creation of livestock companies and adapting economic activities to environmental standards.

Within the framework of the project “Environmental efficiency in Extremadura companies” of the Foundation for the Development of Science and Technology in Extremadura (FUNDECYT), a complete diagnosis of companies in the Extremadura agri-food sector will be prepared in order to know the current state of the techniques used to minimise environmental impact and to propose a series of recommendations that favour sustainable development. On the other hand, it will contribute to the conservation and improvement of the environment through continuous training and awareness of SMEs and the self-employed so that they promote appropriate practices in energy matters.

Brave cattle as a factor that generates wealth in rural areas

Likewise, the Biodiversity Foundation and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Junta de Extremadura will develop the project “Somos Dehesa”, the wild cattle as a factor in the sustainable development of dehesa habitats. Through this initiative, actions will be carried out aimed at optimising the use of wild cattle as a factor that generates wealth in rural areas, through the maintenance of their population and traditional agricultural and livestock practices, crucial for the conservation and management of the natural environment.

The purpose of this project is to encourage and carry out activities in the western half of the Autonomous Community of Extremadura, aimed at optimising the potential of wild cattle as a wealth-generating factor in the rural area of Extremadura. The project will be developed in the western half of the Autonomous Community of Extremadura.

Specifically, it is intended to conserve and promote the sustainable use of the biodiversity of the Extremadura pastures, through the protection of the fighting bull and its habitat; to prevent the degradation and destruction of the primary habitat of wild cattle; To promote the economic development of the dehesa areas through the revaluation of extensive cattle farming activity. Likewise, this initiative aims to preserve the sociocultural values related to the fighting bull in the population of Extremadura; to ensure the proper management of the pastures with a comprehensive approach; to demonstrate the importance of wild cattle ranching as an effective instrument for the sustainability of the pastures; and improve the infrastructures that are framed within the habitat of the bull.