Our recent GrazeLIFE symposium was attended by 335 participants from 38 countries. The event was the culmination of a three-year study which set out to identify best practices of grazing that benefit both nature and people, with outcomes inextricably linked to climate and biodiversity. The final report was handed over to the European Commission’s Director for Natural Capital at the Directorate-General for Environment, Humberto Delgado Rosa.

Today, wildfire poses a major risk to people, property and nature around the world. A new study, carried out as part of the GrazeLIFE project, has found that grazing with large herbivores can significantly reduce this risk.

The next iteration of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is about to be ratified. While those involved have declared it to be “greener and fairer”, there is serious concern that it will be even more destructive for climate and biodiversity. A new report from the GrazeLIFE consortium outlines how and why European policies must provide far more support for low-intensity grazing.

Concern about wildfire risk is growing around the world. Yet experience from the GrazeLIFE study area in the Greater Côa Valley in northern Portugal is demonstrating grazing by large, free-roaming herds of herbivores can be a natural solution and a low-impact way of controlling wildfire.

Invasive alien plant species form a serious challenge in many areas across Europe, where their rapid spread can severely impact ecosystems. A natural solution may be present in the form of (natural) grazing, where herbivores can suppress or even eliminate the proliferation of invasive species. In this blog, we look in more detail at the case of Amorpha fruticosa, or false indigo-bush, which causes major problems, particularly in the Danube basin, and for which extensive grazing can offer a solution.

From a rewilding perspective, the crossing of international borders by free-roaming horses and bovines is perfectly natural. But Europe’s existing regulatory environment often means such behaviour poses significant legal challenges. In a new GrazeLIFE report, ARK Nature and Renée Meissner of Herds and Homelands propose a range of solutions.

Held in the Gelderse Poort area of the Netherlands – an early showcase of European rewilding involving natural grazing – the three-day meeting sees GrazeLIFE project partners come together for the first time. Coordinated by Rewilding Europe, the three-year project will hopefully lead to increased EU legislative support for more natural grazing systems.

The three-year, pan-European project will evaluate the benefits of various land management models involving domesticated and wild/semi-wild herbivores. It will hopefully lead to more supportive EU policy and legislation.