The wildfires that when scorched the forests above the Spanish village of Barro every summer time have all however disappeared since Lucia Perez started grazing wild horses within the space.
“There was fires yearly, however since 2019 after we began coming right here, we’ve had one small hearth within the first yr and nothing since,” Perez, 37, mentioned. She defined that the horses assist cut back the danger of wildfires by clearing the undergrowth between timber, stopping fires from igniting and spreading.
Fireplace prevention is simply one of many ecological advantages wild horses present in Galicia, a area in northwestern Spain recognized for its delicate ecosystems.
Scientists mentioned Europe’s largest herd of untamed horses performs a key function in sustaining these landscapes though the inhabitants has dropped dramatically. Within the Nineteen Seventies, about 22,000 wild horses roamed the area’s mountains, forests and heathlands. At the moment, solely half stay.
On the Serra da Groba heathland, positioned 80km (50 miles) southwest of Barro, wild horses feed on the yellow flowers of gorse – a extremely flamable plant. “By selectively clearing [gorse], the horses assist stop wildfires,” mentioned Laura Lagos, a researcher on the College of A Coruna.
Horse grazing permits different crops, corresponding to purple-flowering heather and white asphodels, to flourish, Lagos defined. “It additionally helps protect the heather round peat bogs, that are considerable in sphagnum mosses – one of the crucial efficient ecosystems for capturing carbon,” she mentioned.
A 2021 research by the College of A Coruna wherein Lagos participated discovered that wild horse grazing was the simplest methodology for stopping wildfires, selling plant biodiversity and capturing carbon. The research in contrast this methodology with different land makes use of, together with planting long-term pine forests, short-term eucalyptus plantations and grazing by domesticated animals.
Though sheep and cattle may assist cut back wildfire dangers via grazing, Lagos famous that wild horses are uniquely tailored to Galicia’s rugged terrain. She highlighted one distinctive attribute: “moustaches that seem designed to guard their lips from the prickly gorse.”
Hotter, drier climate as a result of local weather change is rising the frequency and depth of wildfires in Galicia. From 2001 to 2023, fires burned via 970sq km (375sq miles) within the area, based on World Forest Watch.
This development has coincided with the proliferation of eucalyptus timber, delivered to Galicia from Australia by a missionary within the nineteenth century. The timber are pyrophytes, which means they depend on hearth to launch and disperse their seeds. Their unfold has contributed to heightened hearth dangers whereas additionally lowering grazing pastures for wild horses as a result of solely ferns develop beneath them.
Galicia’s eucalyptus forests now account for 28 % of the area’s whole tree inhabitants, based on an area authorities research. The demand for eucalyptus wooden from regional pulp mills has pushed the enlargement of those plantations.
The historical past of untamed horses in Galicia dates again 1000’s of years. Rock carvings of horses being hunted by people recommend their presence within the area in the course of the Neolithic interval.
Over time, people and horses developed a symbiotic relationship. Generally known as “besteiros” within the Galician dialect, folks historically monitored the well being of free-roaming horses in trade for often domesticating or promoting them for meat.
Every year, the horses had been rounded up throughout occasions referred to as “rapa das bestas”, or “shearing of the beasts”. Throughout these gatherings, the animals had been deloused, vaccinated and had their manes trimmed to forestall wolves from catching them.
At the moment, the “rapa das bestas” has advanced right into a cultural competition. Essentially the most well-known occasion in Sabucedo attracts 1000’s of vacationers yearly, who collect to look at locals wrestle wild horses to the bottom for remedy.
Whereas these traditions proceed to honour the connection between Galicia and its wild horses, the rising dangers of local weather change, habitat loss and declining herd numbers spotlight the pressing want to guard each the horses and the ecosystems they maintain.
