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Project Summary

A public-private partnership project called "Aldea 0" addressed concerns of Somiedo Park stockbreeders about pasture area and controlling scrubland. The project, involving The Information and Communication Technology Center Foundation (CTIC) and funded by the Ministry of Ecological Transition, developed a technology-based solution. This included geopositioning collars for goats, virtual fencing controlled by a mobile app, and solar-powered electrified fencing. A 3D digital model of the park was created to monitor sustainability and aid environmental management. Data collected from collars facilitated land management analysis, including vegetation health and CO2 levels. Successful outcomes led to a second pilot project aiming to quantify goat clearing of scrubland for cost estimation and compensation. The project's success is being shared regionally and nationally, with plans to replicate the model in the Pyrenees for sustainable forest management with sheep.

Themes

Biogeoghraphic Region

Objective

Governance Frameworks:

• Develop public-private collaborations for efficient territory management in Protected Natural Areas.
• Promote community involvement in territory management.
• Establish communication channels between Public Administration and livestock farmers.
• Visualize positive effects of grazing on conservation through digital models.

Modernization of Traditional Pastoralism:

• Test and implement ICT systems for geolocation and monitoring of free-grazing goat herds.
• Transfer knowledge and provide training to livestock farming communities.

Generational Renewal and Improved Working Conditions:

• Utilize younger generations' technological skills to modernize traditional livestock farming.
• Create free time for farm managers through technology adoption.
• Develop intelligent grazing systems to reduce costs and workload.

Conservation of Agrobiodiversity:

• Encourage controlled grazing to conserve landscape mosaics.
• Promote conservation of indigenous goat breeds.
• Recover traditional grazing practices for landscape and biodiversity conservation.

Grazing for Fuel Management and Fire Prevention:

• Control scrubland proliferation and convert it to grassland for firebreaks.
• Implement controlled grazing in forests to reduce fuel load.

Good Practice Description

The good practice in question was developed within the framework of the public-private partnership project "Aldea 0: an initiative for the design and testing of the village of the future"; a project developed by CTIC and funded by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, through the General Secretariat for the Demographic Challenge, with the support of the Government of Asturias. It has its origins in a shared concern of the stockbreeders who carry out their professional activity in Somiedo Park, who have detected two needs that feed off each other. On the one hand, they considered it necessary to increase the surface area of pastures and, on the other, they were looking for a way to recover extensive goat grazing to control the advance of scrubland. At that time, they told the Administration of the Natural Park about their concerns, who helped them find a strategic partner to design and implement a technology-based project that would meet their needs. At that moment, the third agent involved in the project, CTIC Centro Tecnológico, entered the project. This is a Centre with a high involvement in territorial innovation, whose maximum exponent is the specialized Center CTIC RuralTech located in a rural area of Asturias, in the northwest of Spain.

This laid the foundations for a public-private partnership that sought to solve the challenge of the recovery and modernisation of a traditional trade such as shepherding, providing it with the tools and advances of the 21st century, through a pilot project in the context of "Aldea 0". From there, the three agents involved analyzed which technological solutions could be applied according to the nature of the territory and the technological and economic viability of the proposal. They decided to develop a tailor-made intelligent grazing system based on the use of two types of collars, one for geopositioning the animals and the other for digital control of the herds by setting up virtual fences. This is done remotely, as the shepherd can control where his herd is and where he wants it to graze from a mobile device. In this sense, to solve coverage and connectivity problems, the geopositioning collars used in goats in Somiedo involve the use of SIGFOX technology, with the placement of antennas for the deployment of an autonomous low-power network, which also enables the placement of other types of IOT devices in the future. The system works as follows: through a mobile application, farmers define a virtual fence that is transmitted to the devices worn by the animals, which are geolocated collars. Through a combination of music and small electric shocks, these devices lead the animals to the defined area. After a short training, the animals learn to stay within the virtual enclosure solely guided by the music. One of the improvements in the quality of life of livestock farmers offered by the use of these technologies is the possibility of reducing time and journeys in a high mountainous area where they are made on foot by natural imperative. In addition, virtual fencing makes it possible to control the livestock and apply the livestock loads to those lands that are being invaded by scrub, which facilitates their transformation to pasture. On the other hand, mobile electrified fencing powered by solar energy was also experimented with.

In addition to controlling the undergrowth, this solution makes it possible to protect livestock from attack by large carnivores, which in the case of Asturias are the Iberian wolf and the brown bear. This equipment was complemented with the installation of video surveillance cameras that allow farmers to control the fence and its perimeter in real time and from their mobile phones. In order to monitor, graphically represent and highlight the effect of livestock farming on the territory in terms of sustainability, a 3D model of the Park (digital twin) has been developed on which the data captured by the different elements (geolocation collars, virtual fencing collars and video surveillance cameras) are projected, in addition to the layers of information extracted from the analysis of satellite images. This digital twin can be viewed with virtual reality glasses or directly from a computer or mobile phone via a web address. This allows it to have a dual purpose: on the one hand, it will help the general public to appreciate the importance of livestock farming and its associated innovation, and on the other hand, it is intended to serve as an environmental management tool so that farmers, managers and administration can interact on the basis of reliable data. In terms of land management, the compilation of the data collected through the collars also allows the study of the evolution of the land maintained by the livestock, applying image analysis models that, using Artificial Intelligence techniques, manage to relate variables from different sources to find out the state of the vegetation, biomass level, C02 captured, or study the risk of fire and water stress in the territory.

The successful results of the initial project, and in line with the above, have given rise to a second pilot project, led by the Natural Park, which seeks the exact quantification of animal clearing of areas of scrubland and paths and trails with goats, combining mobile electrified fencing and virtual fencing, according to the characteristics of the site. With the results obtained, the Park Management will be able to estimate the costs of animal clearing and thus be able to compensate the livestock farmers for the services rendered. Tests have already been carried out in 2023 and will be replicated in 2024 to establish the definitive costs. The Park thus seeks to avoid mechanical clearing and burning, and to replace them with a less polluting system that contributes more to the diversification of the local economy. Finally, the results of the project were shared with third parties interested in the revaluation of traditional pastoralism, both at regional level and with other territories. It is planned to transfer this good practice to the Aran Valley in the Pyrenees, transferring what was learned in Somiedo to create a digitized communal flock for sustainable forest management, in this case with sheep.

Tools and Equipment

The tools and equipment needed to reproduce this practice fall within the context of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies), including: connectivity networks in the area (in this case SIGFOX), geopositioning and virtual fencing collars, computers or smartphones to manage the different applications developed for this project, solar electrified fences, digital terrain twin, video surveillance cameras...

Personnel

The team needed to replicate this good practice must be multidisciplinary and focused on various technologies and encompassed in the ICT context. Likewise, the concept of social innovation is of vital importance in this practice, so people specialized in this field are also necessary. Finally, a project of these characteristics needs the involvement of all parties, in order to establish communication channels, process the necessary permits, ensure the optimisation of resources, stimulate the participation of the rural community, etc. Therefore, and in the context of a public-private partnership, the role of the Public Administrations is key as a facilitator of relations and the processing of authorisations and permits, in our case: the Directorate General for the Natural Environment, the Directorate of the Natural Park and Biosphere Reserve, and the Town Council. Similarly, a motivated rural community that believes in the project is the only guarantee of its success.

Problems and Threats Faced

Replicating the innovative practice described may face several challenges. Firstly, ensuring the availability and suitability of technological infrastructure, especially in remote areas, poses a significant hurdle. The cost of implementing and maintaining technology-based solutions is another concern, necessitating affordability and funding support. Engaging local communities, including livestock farmers, requires overcoming potential resistance to change and skepticism towards new technologies. Providing comprehensive training and capacity building is crucial for effective technology adoption. Adapting regulatory frameworks to accommodate new technologies and addressing environmental considerations are essential steps. Cultural and social factors, such as community preferences and traditions, must also be taken into account.