The meeting of theAlpine LIFEstockProtect Competence Centre Network took place in the afternoon of the 12th of November. It was a Zoom event. Dozens of livestock owners from South Tyrol, Austria and Bavaria took part to share their knowledge and personal experiences of livestock protection.
Exchange of different viewpoints and experiences
After a warm welcome from the LIFEstockProtect team, the meeting began with a presentation about the legal structure of the EU Habitats Directive. This is an important basis for understanding why the protection measures supported by LIFEstockProtect are necessary in the first place. This was followed by a project update, which presented the planned livestock protection courses, the certified scatdogs and the futurevolunteer programme.
Then the diverse livestock owners from the project region presented their farms. They shared information about the farms’ structures as well as their previous experiences with livestock protection. Most had used measures such as fences before, but some had little to no experience. It was interesting to get to know the different perspectives of farmers with such varying farms and to promote knowledge exchange for future implementation of livestock protection measures.
At the end, participants were able to ask questions and express their wishes for LIFEstockProtect. Most were affected by the costs of protection measures and thought that more financial support from regional authorities was necessary.
Events like these are important to support and connect livestock owners from different regions in order to exchange information about livestock protection. The high engagement of the farmers was particularly inspiring and made this meeting a success. The LIFEstockProtect team would like to thank all participants for coming and sharing their stories with everyone.
