Umweltdachverband Austria survey: majority of Austrians are in favour of strengthening sustainable mountain pasture management and livestock protection

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Umweltdachverband Austria survey: majority of Austrians are in favour of strengthening sustainable mountain pasture management and livestock protection

  • Survey shows urgency and importance of protecting grazing animals on Austrian mountain pastures
  • Financial support required for the preservation of mountain pastures and the implementation of herd protection measures

Vienna, 16.01.2025 (UWD) – Measures to protect grazing animals and financial support for alpine pasture managers receive broad support from the Austrian population. This is shown by a recent survey conducted by the Umweltdachverband Austria in cooperation with Bio Austria, which was commissioned as part of the LIFEstockProtect project and published for the first time at the Green Week, which starts on 17 January. “We are delighted with the high regard that consumers have for alpine farming and livestock protection. The task now is to achieve both goals in a way that is as socially and ecologically compatible as possible and to form appropriate compromises. It turns out that herding and pens are not only practical solutions, but also correspond to the values of the public in terms of animal welfare and sustainable agriculture,” says Franziska Werba, zoologist and biodiversity expert at the Umweltdachverband Austria. “The LIFEstockProtect project calls for a cooperative policy that supports farmers, promotes animal welfare and offers sustainable grazing solutions,” emphasizes Max Rossbergproject manager at LIFEstockProtect.

Broad public support for active pasture animal protection

The public’s attitude towards livestock protection measures is consistently positive: 90% of respondents consider it important that farmers take measures to protect their animals from natural risks such as storms, accidents, diseases or attacks by large predators. 85% of the population is also concerned about financial support for farmers who implement livestock protection measures. The importance of proactive strategies for livestock protection measures is also underlined by a clear preference among respondents for the type of livestock grazing: 59% of the general population prefer active protection by shepherds and herding dogs (herding) and only 27% vote in favor of unguarded livestock grazing. The acceptance of livestock guarding dogs on mountain pastures was also very high among respondents (91%).

High esteem, increased willingness to pay

A total of 91% of the population agree that mountain pastures must be preserved, with 69% even rating their importance for biodiversity and the regional supply of food, the production of healthy food and the preservation of cultural landscapes as “very important”. In terms of animal welfare in particular, 79% of Austrians are prepared to bear higher costs for products if herd protection measures are taken.

The core results of the survey are available here for download.
All survey results can be found
here.

The survey was conducted by the Umweltdachverband Austria as part of the EU-funded LIFEstockProtect project at the market research institute MARKET was commissioned. It surveyed 2,270 people in April 2024 via online interviews in a pre-recruited, offline-validated online panel to ensure the reliability of the data. The methodology ensures that the results are statistically reliable and can be generalized to the Austrian population within the accepted confidence levels.

Contact

Umweltdachverband Austria:

Tina Leonhard, Press & Public Relations Umweltdachverband Austria, Tel. 01/40 113-51,

E-mail: tina.leonhard@umweltdachverband.at, https://www.umweltdachverband.at

LIFEstockProtect:

Max Rossberg, Project Management & Public Relations LIFEstockProtect, Tel. +43 676 9271 543,

E-mail: info@lifestockprotect.info, https://lifestockprotect.info/