Implementation of the Functional Herbivory Plan in Areas Managed by EMAC within the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park

The two implemented wildlife enclosures, Peninha (58 ha) and Quinta do Pisão (QdP, 240 ha), were abandoned areas. Peninha was a traditional mountain grazing area that become dominated by scrubland with a consequent recurring cycle of rural fires leading to the destruction of most of the black oak forest. QdP was an abandoned agricultural farm that became unsafe and unmanaged. The vegetation evolved towards a dominance of kermes oak scrubland associated with increasingly shorter fire cycles.

The lack of a sustainable management model (financial, logistical, natural) to reduce the biomass growth and to promote a landscape mosaic in order to reduce the severity and intensity of rural fires, the dilapidated and simplified trophic chain which leads to the disruption of basic natural processes and interspecific interactions, the secular absence of extensive grazing in the Sintra mountain range, with the consequent losses of ecosystem services provided and lost cultural values associated.

For Peninha, for its vegetation and sub-mountain microclimate with a strong Atlantic influence, two native mountain breeds with a mixed feeder profile, Garrano horses and Maronesa cows, were introduced. For QdP, as a low altitude plateau with streams and a vegetation dominated by dense scrubland of kermes oak with meadows and pockets of native forest, these were chosen: as grazers Sorraia horse and Iberian hare, as a mixed feeder Iberian red deer and Miranda donkey, and as a browser roe deer.

Besides the establishment of herbivore species combination for each area, FHP defined technical specifications for the different enclosure infrastructures, management and monitoring, transportation and emergency procedures and a risk assessment evaluation.

FHP execution was partly financed by the “European Wildlife Comeback Fund 2022” promoted by Rewilding Europe. This included the expansion of QdP enclosure and increasing its height, and strengthening the number of deer and Sorraia horse.

Funding: the “European Wildlife Comeback Fund” from Rewilding Europe. Our national partners were DGAV (General Directorate of Food and Veterinary Affairs), the Division of Hunting and Aquaculture Resources from ICNF (Nature Conservation Institute), the Tapada Nacional de Mafra, ACERG (Association of Garrano Horse Breeders), the Association of Hunters of Grijó and Vilar de Perdizes, Association of Maronês Breeders, Herdade da Brava and AEPGA (Association for the Study and Protection of Donkeys).

After 3 years of managing enclosure infrastructures, herds and visitation, the reintroduced species have adapted and reproduced, with densities being readjusted according to monitoring of vegetation. It is estimated that herbivory is efficiently contributing to the reduction of the annual increase of vegetation mass, 40% in Peninha, 60% in QdP. The access infrastructures to the enclosures have been revised to accommodate the main users of the enclosures (walkers, mountain bikers and dog owners).

The greatest difficulties in implementing the FHP were related to the bureaucracy associated with licensing for the keeping of wild species (Iberian red deer, roe deer and Iberian hare) and native breeds (Maronesa cow, Sorraia horse, Garrano horse and Miranda donkey), the execution of the 2 m high fence for the QdP enclosure, the negotiation process with private plot owners of the western part of the enclosure, and roe deer capture and transport.

After 3 years of experience, it can be said that the reintroduction of local herbivore species or their proxies is an efficient tool for reduction of the annual vegetation mass growth thus contributing to the reduction of severity and intensity of rural fires. Also, the areas where they are introduced are compatible with an informed visitation (rules of use of the spaces), functioning as a factor of attraction and empathy with visitors.