Content

Contents and structure of each unit of the study module

The FireShepherds study module aims to help young or non-experienced shepherds to develop skills concerning silvopastoralism and fire prevention management. It has been divided into different units and each unit has several lessons specifically designed for FireShepherds.

Unit 1. Introduction

1. Welcome to the course
2. What is this course about?
3. Glossary

Unit 2. Use of fire: today and in the past

1. Environmental and socio-economic background
2. Forest and fire ecology
3. Fire behaviour. Climate change impact on fire behaviour in the project areas
4. Vegetation type and frequent fuel models
5. Self-protection and extinction
6. Extinction and prevention stakeholders
7. Fire management policies and legislation
8. Bibliography

Unit 3. Forest management and infrastructures to reduce wildfire risk and improve extinction capacity

1. Forest plantations planning
2. Forest exploitation
3. Vertical and horizontal continuity
4. Forest breaks, logging and clear-cutting
5. Prescribed burnings
6. Priority infrastructures for wildfires
7. Exploitation of existing resources to create new preventive infrastructures
8. Bibliography

Unit 4. Animal feed in silvopastoral systems

1. Physiological needs of animals in silvopastoral systems
2. Food supplement and supplementary feeding in silvopastoral conditions
3. Nutrition values of understory species
4. Costs related to the necessary complementary feeding
5. Bibliography

Unit 5. Silvopastoralism as a fire prevention tool

1. Introduction to silvopastoralism
2. Livestock races for silvicultural exploitation
3. How to select places to carry out silvopastoralism?
4. Economic assessment of silvopastoralism in ecosystem services
5. Load capacity
6. Grazing intensity to achieve the desired result
7. Installation of vegetation protection measures
8. Forage resource management
9. Pastoralism management
10. Sectorization
11. New technologies applied to silvopastoralism, fire prevention and landscape management
12. Bibliography

Unit 6. Necessary infrastructures for livestock

1. Necessary infrastructures for extensive grazing
2. Costs
3. Renewable energies
4. Bibliography

Unit 7. Relationship with the public administration

1. Key points to present a project to the administration
2. Ecosystem services budget in fire prevention
3. Administrative steps linked to silvopastoralism
4. Grants, contracts and agreements
5. Coefficient of admissibility of pastures, calculation and argumentation for its revision
6. Bibliography

Unit 8. Products comercialization

1. Social and environmental function of extensive livestock and pastoralism as a tool to give value to the product
2. Comercialization channels
3. Coordination with stakeholders
4. Integration of ecosystem services concept during the selling of the product
5. Communication and marketing strategies
6. Examples
7. Bibliography

Unit 9. Field sheets

Factsheets with important information to consider when developing a wildfire prevention project using silvopastoralism