Track 2-1-1: Grazing Systems, Grassland Restoration and Livestock Production
Description
Ecosystem changes by human activities are a central topic in environmental discussions and temperate grasslands are among the most altered ecosystems on the planet (Millenium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). The Rio de la Plata grasslands are among of the most extended temperate grasslands in the world, along with the prairie system of North America, the grasslands in east Europe and Mongolia, the grassvelds in South Africa and the New Zealand plains. They cover the central-eastern part of Argentina, Uruguay and south of Brazil. Natural grasslands are very rich in terms of number of species, reaching up to more than 3,000 vascular plants (Bilenca and Miñarro., 2004; Miñarro et al., 2008).
Almost all Uruguayan lands are private property and most of them have some agriculture use. In this context, any conservation strategy must take into consideration production systems, including not only natural resources that are strongly related to production as soil and water, but also other ecosystem services, including biodiversity. On the other hand, natural grasslands have a high potential for meat production being of great economic importance for the country, and increasing the production efficiency is a main topic. Extensive livestock production seems to be compromise solution between conservation and production, but the main challenge is to maintain ecosystems functionality improving productive results. Considering all this, a re-designing production system strategy was developed with farmers in two different regions of the country. This work involved a co-innovation approach, which objective was to increase income and farmer´s family life quality involving management practices changes with none or minimum investment and ensuring environmental protection. In this article, in order to show the multi-dimensional approach for environmental information, we analyze a case study.
Included in
Improving Livestock Production Assuring Natural Grassland Ecosystem Conservation: Three Key Management Practices at Farm Level
Ecosystem changes by human activities are a central topic in environmental discussions and temperate grasslands are among the most altered ecosystems on the planet (Millenium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). The Rio de la Plata grasslands are among of the most extended temperate grasslands in the world, along with the prairie system of North America, the grasslands in east Europe and Mongolia, the grassvelds in South Africa and the New Zealand plains. They cover the central-eastern part of Argentina, Uruguay and south of Brazil. Natural grasslands are very rich in terms of number of species, reaching up to more than 3,000 vascular plants (Bilenca and Miñarro., 2004; Miñarro et al., 2008).
Almost all Uruguayan lands are private property and most of them have some agriculture use. In this context, any conservation strategy must take into consideration production systems, including not only natural resources that are strongly related to production as soil and water, but also other ecosystem services, including biodiversity. On the other hand, natural grasslands have a high potential for meat production being of great economic importance for the country, and increasing the production efficiency is a main topic. Extensive livestock production seems to be compromise solution between conservation and production, but the main challenge is to maintain ecosystems functionality improving productive results. Considering all this, a re-designing production system strategy was developed with farmers in two different regions of the country. This work involved a co-innovation approach, which objective was to increase income and farmer´s family life quality involving management practices changes with none or minimum investment and ensuring environmental protection. In this article, in order to show the multi-dimensional approach for environmental information, we analyze a case study.
