Welcome to our community! Feel free to introduce yourself!

General Information & Exchange
1

Welcome to ConGrazeNetEU

We are happy to bring together practitioners, researchers, farmers, organisations, and everyone interested in conservation grazing across Europe.

This forum is a space to:

  • exchange experiences

  • discuss challenges and solutions

  • share knowledge and resources

  • build connections across countries and landscapes

:backhand_index_pointing_right: We would love to get to know you.

Please introduce yourself and tell us a little about yourself, your work, or your interest in conservation grazing:

  • Which country or region are you from?

  • What is your connection to conservation grazing?

  • Are you working directly with grazing animals, research, policy, conservation, education, or another related field?

  • Which animals, landscapes, habitats, or projects are you involved with?

  • What are the biggest challenges in your work or region?

  • What have been your most important lessons or insights?

  • What have been your biggest successes or positive experiences?

Feel free to answer only the questions that are relevant to you.

You are very welcome here whether you work directly in grazing practice or are interested in the topic from another perspective.

Feel free to write in your preferred language.

We are looking forward to learning from each other!

Welcome to the Conservation Grazing Network Europe Forum
2

My name is Julia and I am joining from northern Germany.

I am the coordinator of the ConGrazeNetEU Erasmus+ project and one of the moderators of this forum. I hope this forum can become a useful space for professional exchange on conservation grazing across Europe.

I currently work with Bunde Wischen, where we are involved in large-scale conservation grazing systems and the management of different semi-natural habitats in Schleswig-Holstein, including coastal and wet grasslands, species-rich meadows, and heathlands.

I am also involved in rebuilding the European Forum on Nature Conservation and Pastoralism (EFNCP) in Germany in order to continue and strengthen its work around High Nature Value farming and conservation grazing in Europe.

Over the coming weeks and months, I will also share more information and insights into the practical work of Bunde Wischen, including photos and videos from different grazing systems and habitats.

I am looking forward to exchanging experiences and perspectives with people working in different regions and contexts.

Feedback, suggestions, and ideas for the forum are always welcome.

Best wishes,
Julia

3

Hi everyone :waving_hand: ! I’m Andrea Rodríguez, from ACOBIJA — a local NGO based in Aragón (Spain), right in the middle of what we call the Iberian System, a large biological corridor connecting the northern interior of the peninsula with the Mediterranean.

Together with Bunde Wischen, the project coordinators, we are the two partner organisations behind this network, which we hope will help connect nature conservation and pastoralism across Europe.

I work in project management and coordination at ACOBIJA, whose mission is focused on biodiversity conservation, natural heritage and ecological restoration, with a strong focus on ecological connectivity for “umbrella” species: necrophagous species (such as the Egyptian vulture or the red kite), pollinating insects, and steppe birds. To get there, our two main tools are managed grazing — using extensive livestock and pastoralism as a conservation tool — and land stewardship agreements. We work very much on the ground, side by side with local livestock farmers and other land managers day to day.

Happy to be part of this! Looking forward to comparing notes with all of you, and I’ll be jumping into a few of the existing threads shortly with our own experience.

4

Good morning! :sun: I’m Beatrice Bellavia, I work for Euromontana, and I am part of the LIFE ShepForBio project. We promote the role of extensive grazing as a tool to protect biodiversity and manage landscapes.

We’re trying to establish a EU-wide network of pastoral schools as well, and the project launched its own school for shepherds.

Right now, we are super busy preparing our upcoming conference “Pastoral Landscapes 2026”. Feel free to check it out and save your spot! Places are limited.

Looking forward to all the connections that this community can bring!