Shed installation to promote silvopastoralism in Aiguamúrcia (Tarragona) demonstration forest

Within the framework of the LIFE AgroforAdapt project (https://agroforadapt.eu), an infrastructure consisting of a shed has been installed on the Sant Sebastià forest (Aiguamúrcia municipality, Tarragona province, Spain), which is part of Forest Management Plan (FMP) drawn up by the Forest Science and Technology Center of Catalonia (CTFC) in 2022. The CTFC directed the implementation of the works foreseen in the FMP, consisting of selective thinning (reduction of tree density) and clearing (reduction of undergrowth density), adapted to each area of the stand, as described in this document. The aim is to reduce the vulnerability to forest fires and to facilitate grazing within the forest (silvopastoralism). The woodland is owned by the Tarragona Provincial Council, co-financier of the project and promoter of these activities.

The shed is a simple construction, in the form of a tunnel, where the livestock will spend the night when grazing in this sector of the forest. The area was already being grazed by livestock until now, but only as a staging area on routes between grassland plots. The aim of installing the infrastructure is to allow more efficient grazing in the nearby forest areas, in order to maintain a forest structure with low vulnerability to high intensity fires.

In addition, grazing exclusion plots are installed near the shed to study the effect of the herd on the control of the undergrowth, compared to ungrazed areas.