Seeking balanced local development based on sylvopastoralism: making the most of forest areas and introducing innovative livestock farming systems

Sylvopastoralism is a sustainable management approach that reconciles forestry and pastoral objectives. This livestock farming practice, found mainly in the pastoral regions of the Far South, involves grazing animals in the forest to make use of the forage resources found beneath the trees. At the same time, these clearings help to improve the condition of the trees and enable timber production. However, challenges remain in implementing sylvopastoral operations, such as organisational difficulties, a lack of knowledge or skills in sylvopastoral practices, difficulties in managing pastoral or forestry operations, and the rather complicated process of marketing forestry products. Consequently, a significant proportion of the forested land in the Far South remains underutilised or poorly managed to this day. Yet solutions do exist, whether in public or private forests. It is against this backdrop that a research programme has been launched, aimed at identifying the conditions for feasibility and implementing a combined (forestry and pastoral) approach to the management of wooded areas, at the level of livestock farming systems and forest blocks. This article presents the findings of this project and, in particular, the numerous tools, methods and references required to support the implementation of silvopastoral operations.