Start Date
End Date
Project Summary
The LIFE Xero-grazing project worked over a five-year period to conserve and restore priority semi-natural dry grasslands in the Valle di Susa, in north-western Italy, through targeted pastoral management. Semi-natural dry grasslands are among the most species-rich habitats in Europe and support rare orchids and other specialist species, but decades of land abandonment had led to shrub and tree encroachment, a decline in biodiversity, and reduced habitat condition. LIFE Xero-grazing aimed to reverse these trends by reintroducing grazing as an active conservation tool, integrating livestock management with habitat restoration and community engagement to create a sustainable long-term framework for maintaining these open, species-rich grassland systems.
Themes
Biogeoghraphic Region
Objective
The principal objective of LIFE Xero-grazing was to improve the conservation status of dry, semi-natural grassland habitats that had been degraded by shrub encroachment and reduced grazing. Rather than limiting actions to mechanical removal of vegetation, the project centred on reinstating extensive, sustainable grazing regimes as a key ecological process for preserving biodiversity and maintaining open grassland structure. By demonstrating how managed grazing could be applied in a Natura 2000 site context, the project aimed to produce guidance and models that could be replicated elsewhere.
Good Practice Description
LIFE Xero-grazing adopted a holistic approach to dry grassland conservation in which extensive grazing was not a secondary activity but a central ecological tool for maintaining and enhancing biodiversity. The project first carried out analyses of the vegetation and the condition of grassland habitats, identifying areas where shrub and tree encroachment were most pronounced and where grazing could have the greatest positive impact. It then applied active habitat restoration by clearing encroaching woody vegetation and preparing extensive grassland parcels for grazing.
Pastoralists were involved directly, and a dedicated “service flock” of sheep was obtained to implement managed grazing across targeted dry grassland areas. Fencing, water points, and salt licks were arranged where necessary to support regular grazing patterns, and access was regulated to ensure livestock could utilise the grasslands effectively. Through controlled grazing, livestock maintained low sward height, prevented re-encroachment of shrubs, and helped create the structural complexity of vegetation that is essential for orchids and other specialist plant and animal species. Follow-up monitoring assessed how grazing influenced species composition, vegetation structure, and landscape openness, producing data on the relationship between grazing intensity and habitat quality.
The project also integrated social and communication actions to enhance local understanding and support. LIFE Xero-grazing organised workshops, educational activities, and informational trails to engage residents, students, technical specialists, and visitors. These initiatives disseminated project insights on how grazing management can serve as an effective conservation strategy, and the results were published and shared with the broader conservation community, including scientific articles on the effects of grazing and practical guidance for implementation.
Tools and Equipment
Replicating such an initiative would require a combination of tools that supported ecological restoration and pastoral management in tandem. Among the equipment used, materials for livestock support such as mobile and permanent fencing systems, water supply facilities, salt points, and holding areas would enable sheep to graze effectively across prepared grassland blocks. Tools for clearing shrubs and tree saplings are necessary to prepare areas for grazing use and maintain open vegetation. Monitoring equipment, such as vegetation survey materials, GPS devices, and data recording tools allow the project team to assess how grazing influenced habitat structure and species composition over time.
Personnel
A successful replication would depend on the availability of a multidisciplinary team, including conservation ecologists and botanists, pastoral management specialists, to work alongside local farmers, shepherds and livestock keepers. Technical support staff would handle the installation and maintenance of fencing and water infrastructures.
Problems and Threats Faced
The dry grasslands targeted by LIFE Xero-grazing were primarily threatened by the long-term abandonment of traditional grazing practices. The reduction of pastoral activities allowed shrubs and trees to progressively invade formerly open areas, altering vegetation structure and reducing the richness of specialist species, including orchids characteristic of habitat 6210*. The accumulation of dry biomass and shrub encroachment also increased fire risk in the Bassa Valle di Susa. Additional pressures included disturbance from unauthorized motor vehicle access and broader land-use changes. Without the reintroduction of well-managed extensive grazing, these processes were leading to the gradual degradation and loss of biodiversity in these species-rich grasslands.