Wild grazing herds shown to slow wildfires in Iberia

Rewilding Portugal and Rewilding Europe highlight how free-roaming herbivores like Sorraia horses and tauros can reduce wildfire severity, after this summer's record fires burned around 500,000 hectares across the Iberian Peninsula. In the Ermo das Águias area of the Greater Côa Valley, fire spread more slowly through vegetation grazed by horses introduced two years ago, compared with nearby pine and eucalyptus plantations. Rural depopulation and abandoned farmland have left large amounts of flammable vegetation across Spain and Portugal. Organisations argue that restoring natural grazing, alongside other land management measures, should become central to wildfire prevention strategy.