Lessons from civil society against fire: Extensive livestock farming and community management

• As wildfires become increasingly frequent in southern Europe, local communities are reviving traditional fire prevention methods and community-based disaster management.
• Extensive livestock farming, which maintains forest health by reducing flammable biomass, is emerging as a critical, sustainable strategy against catastrophic fires.
• Centralized state control often conflicts with traditional local knowledge, hindering the effectiveness of community-led forest management.

The Decline of Traditional Forest Maintenance

• In rural Turkey (Izmir), shepherds report that traditional practices, such as clearing dry brush and rotational grazing, have been suppressed by state regulations and rural depopulation.
• Government policies often favor planting fast-growing, fire-prone species like red pine, which locals argue increases fire risk compared to diverse, native forest structures.
• Following the massive 2025 wildfires, residents have begun forming independent civil response groups, using tools like messaging apps to coordinate emergency tasks when state services are delayed or lack local terrain knowledge.

Community Forest Management in Galicia

• Galicia, Spain, utilizes the "Comunidades de Montes," a system of collective forest ownership dating back to the Middle Ages where neighbors manage forest resources and maintenance together.
• These communities integrate livestock—including cows, goats, and horses—to rotate through forest zones, keeping them free of overgrown brush and creating natural firebreaks.
• Research from NEIKER (Basque Research and Technology Alliance) indicates that managed grazing can reduce forest biomass by up to 60%, serving as a highly effective, cost-efficient fire mitigation tool.

Strategic Implications for Prevention

• Experts emphasize that effective wildfire prevention requires moving beyond simple reforestation toward active forest management that reduces flammable loads.
• Replacing invasive, fire-promoting species like eucalyptus with native species, such as oak or chestnut, is identified as a critical step for long-term resilience.
• Ultimately, stakeholders argue that connecting new generations to the land and empowering local communities to act as stewards of their forests is the only viable path to preventing future wildfire catastrophes.