*NEW RESOURCE*: Co-creating Knowledge for Action with Transhumant Herders in Spain by Yolda Initiative is a report for Roads Less Travelled – a global partnership of Yolda, DiversEarth and Asociación Trashumancia y Naturaleza.
Written by María E. Fernández-Giménez of Colorado State University and based on participant observation of transhumant movements and in-depth interviews with current and former transhumant herders conducted by the author, this study aims to address several gaps including documentation of present-day transhumant pastoralists’ traditional knowledge in use and ethnographic accounts of the current reality of transhumance in practice, grounded in the lived experiences and voices of transhumant herders in Spain.
The findings challenge the dominant narrative of the demise of transhumance in rural Spain, showing that transhumance remains a relevant and profitable practice in some regions. The knowledge that transhumant herders create and maintain through active use continues to develop and adapt in response to a dynamic social-ecological context. Despite continued relevance and use, transhumance faces significant challenges to long-term continuity.
The results of the study are divided into 4 chapters as follows:
1. Transhumant knowledge in use: case studies of transhumance in Jaen and the central Pyrenees;
2. Benefits, costs and challenges of contemporary transhumance
3. Abandonment and revitalization of transhumance in the western Aragonese Pyrenees;
4. A preliminary economic analysis of transhumance.
Report is available for download here in English and Spanish