Start Date
End Date
Project Summary
The C.ORO – Capitale Orobìe Project is focused on the conservation, enhancement, and sustainable management of mountain pasture ecosystems in the Orobie Bergamasche Park. The project intervenes in the protection of semi-natural pasture habitats, promotes biodiversity, and disseminates good agro-pastoral management practices. A central component is the definition of sustainable grazing protocols, which include appropriate stocking rates, controlled grazing techniques, and pasture care practices. These measures are designed not only to restore pasture habitats at the ecological level but also to organize and guide how livestock is used sustainably and functionally to support the conservation of mountain agro-ecosystems.
Themes
Biogeoghraphic Region
Objective
The main objective of the C.ORO Project is to preserve and improve the ecological quality of mountain pasture ecosystems through sustainable pastoral management strategies. Extensive grazing and controlled livestock use are treated as active conservation tools, maintaining biodiversity, habitat structure, and the functional integrity of alpine and pre-alpine pastures.
Good Practice Description
The core of the C.ORO Project lies in integrating pastoral management as a conservation tool. The project goes beyond habitat restoration alone by promoting formalised grazing protocols designed to ensure that livestock use supports ecosystem conservation.
The protocols include appropriate stocking rates, matching livestock numbers to the pasture’s ecological carrying capacity to prevent overgrazing or under-utilisation. They promote controlled grazing techniques, including rotational grazing schedules to maintain vegetation balance and support herbaceous diversity and encourage pasture management best practices, such as maintenance of access paths, management of degraded areas, and continuous monitoring of grazing impacts.
Through these practices, livestock are used actively to maintain biodiversity, preserve landscape structure, and support ecosystem services such as soil fertility, invasive species control, and fire risk management. The project also includes farmer training, development of educational materials, and promotion of guided visits and events to disseminate knowledge of sustainable pastoral practices among local communities, stakeholders, and visitors.
Tools and Equipment
Replicating the C.ORO Good Practice requires tools for both field implementation and planning. These include pasture management infrastructure such as fencing, mobile water troughs, and watering points; equipment for vegetation and shrub management; tools for maintaining paths and open pasture areas; and cartographic and GIS tools for mapping grazing areas and designing rotational grazing protocols.
Personnel
A possible replication would ideally require a multidisciplinary team including:
- Conservation technicians and botanists, to monitor vegetation communities and assess grazing impact.
- Pastoral and livestock management specialists, to define and adapt grazing protocols and controlled grazing techniques.
- Local farmers and shepherds, who apply the grazing plans in the field and contribute traditional knowledge.
- Environmental educators and trainers, for promoting good practices and awareness among communities.
- GIS technicians and land planners, for mapping pastures and supporting grazing management planning.
Problems and Threats Faced
In the Orobie Bergamasche mountain systems, traditional pastures face several threats:
• Abandonment of extensive traditional livestock farming, leading to shrub encroachment and loss of herbaceous species.
• Inadequate livestock stocking rates or grazing management, causing either overgrazing or under-utilization of pastures, which compromises biodiversity and ecosystem resilience.
• Lack of shared or structured pastoral management protocols, with insufficient dissemination of controlled grazing techniques for conservation purposes.
These factors result in habitat degradation, loss of indicator species, and reduction of ecosystem services typically associated with mountain pastures.