Pastoreo en red – Grazing under high voltage lines

Red Eléctrica de España collaborative pilot scheme 'Pastoreo en Red' (network grazing) uses herds of sheep as a nature-based solution to vegetation management in a grid corridor in La Rioja. By moving away from mechanised management and recruiting a local shepherd to graze livestock on the vegetation, this practice benefits local biodiversity and ecosystems, climate resilience, rural populations and the grid operator themselves.  The project is currently being replicated in Aragon, Asturias, Catalonia, Castile and Leon and Galicia. They work in collaboration with Agrovidar, an organisation in La Rioja that provides comprehensive solutions to the agriculture and environment sector.  

Highlights: 

• Contributes to healthier soil ecology and structure, water and nutrient retention, protects against forest fires and reduces GHG emission 

• ‘Practical Guide’ and manual on ‘Benefits of networked grazing’ to support replication  

• Supports local culture of shepherding through generational learning and provision of new income streams 

• Incorporates knowledge and technology through GPS collars into livestock management.  

About this practice: 

Grid operators continually manage vegetation in grid corridors to prevent fires and outages, often through mechanical clear-cutting. To replace machinery with natural means, Red Eléctrica launched a pilot partnership with a small company specialised in agriculture and environment, Agrovidar, and a local shepherd. Over 20 days, for 7 hours per day, 700 animals grazed on the area, consuming 28,000kg of organic matter and returning 14,000kg as manure. Aside from remote sensing, GPS monitoring and drones to track the project, studies by the Universities of Alcalá and Barcelona evaluated the ecosystem services and cultural benefits.  

Universidad de Alcalá along with Red Eléctrica developed the project “Evaluation of ecosystem services arising from vegetation management in the electricity transmission network through grazing” to access the results of Pastereo en Red. The study concluded the use of sheep grazing improves the cultural, regulatory, and supply ecosystems and increases the resilience of powerlines as well as fosters the biodiversity along the grid.