Berliner Boersenzeitung - Barcelona recruits sheep, goats to fight wildfires

EUR -
AED 4.204003
AFN 80.119237
ALL 97.797264
AMD 438.82397
ANG 2.048403
AOA 1049.565238
ARS 1359.644985
AUD 1.757685
AWG 2.060216
AZN 1.942855
BAM 1.959728
BBD 2.311202
BDT 139.898581
BGN 1.956905
BHD 0.431513
BIF 3365.018685
BMD 1.144564
BND 1.470503
BOB 7.909612
BRL 6.393423
BSD 1.14478
BTN 98.137707
BWP 15.283166
BYN 3.746094
BYR 22433.4579
BZD 2.299339
CAD 1.565277
CDF 3297.489434
CHF 0.938771
CLF 0.027761
CLP 1065.315114
CNY 8.213354
CNH 8.213816
COP 4700.78231
CRC 582.575356
CUC 1.144564
CUP 30.330951
CVE 110.621947
CZK 24.803629
DJF 203.411393
DKK 7.459471
DOP 67.754327
DZD 150.415228
EGP 56.833222
ERN 17.168463
ETB 153.48463
FJD 2.600795
FKP 0.843645
GBP 0.842915
GEL 3.124716
GGP 0.843645
GHS 11.731749
GIP 0.843645
GMD 80.727784
GNF 9906.202717
GTQ 8.796517
GYD 239.843411
HKD 8.980422
HNL 29.770107
HRK 7.5357
HTG 149.768235
HUF 403.42431
IDR 18606.092515
ILS 3.996647
IMP 0.843645
INR 98.302386
IQD 1499.379074
IRR 48186.151913
ISK 144.456063
JEP 0.843645
JMD 182.535877
JOD 0.811554
JPY 164.351408
KES 148.222475
KGS 100.092469
KHR 4603.437455
KMF 492.737645
KPW 1030.105267
KRW 1551.491387
KWD 0.350843
KYD 0.953883
KZT 583.952625
LAK 24699.695158
LBP 102552.949986
LKR 342.425892
LRD 228.222918
LSL 20.318961
LTL 3.3796
LVL 0.692335
LYD 6.232127
MAD 10.471557
MDL 19.763009
MGA 5127.647165
MKD 61.541086
MMK 2403.282029
MNT 4095.750032
MOP 9.252262
MRU 45.353336
MUR 52.329192
MVR 17.632019
MWK 1986.39096
MXN 21.929967
MYR 4.841389
MZN 73.194807
NAD 20.319228
NGN 1786.961983
NIO 42.13126
NOK 11.530228
NPR 157.026804
NZD 1.89598
OMR 0.440305
PAB 1.144659
PEN 4.151907
PGK 4.696433
PHP 63.71159
PKR 322.938461
PLN 4.28404
PYG 9142.324989
QAR 4.167323
RON 5.048212
RSD 117.131293
RUB 88.452068
RWF 1625.281134
SAR 4.292703
SBD 9.546156
SCR 16.456923
SDG 686.738357
SEK 10.950103
SGD 1.471949
SHP 0.899448
SLE 25.92489
SLL 24000.938787
SOS 654.118929
SRD 42.282464
STD 23690.167631
SVC 10.016076
SYP 14881.935788
SZL 20.327211
THB 37.358282
TJS 11.320845
TMT 4.01742
TND 3.393606
TOP 2.680684
TRY 44.955617
TTD 7.746629
TWD 34.287593
TZS 3050.263237
UAH 47.431572
UGX 4154.272431
USD 1.144564
UYU 47.645501
UZS 14650.421349
VES 111.916396
VND 29853.095188
VUV 138.30445
WST 3.155673
XAF 657.25431
XAG 0.032101
XAU 0.000341
XCD 3.093241
XDR 0.820408
XOF 655.834843
XPF 119.331742
YER 278.464527
ZAR 20.312235
ZMK 10302.451665
ZMW 29.846913
ZWL 368.549199
  • CMSC

    0.0000

    22.23

    0%

  • SCS

    0.0000

    10.37

    -0%

  • NGG

    -0.0200

    71.03

    -0.03%

  • GSK

    0.3500

    41.15

    +0.85%

  • RBGPF

    0.4600

    67.96

    +0.68%

  • BTI

    1.2650

    47.44

    +2.67%

  • AZN

    -0.6500

    72.35

    -0.9%

  • RIO

    0.7000

    59.24

    +1.18%

  • BCC

    -0.0300

    87.47

    -0.03%

  • BP

    0.1300

    29.05

    +0.45%

  • CMSD

    -0.0311

    22.2

    -0.14%

  • JRI

    -0.0100

    12.95

    -0.08%

  • BCE

    -0.1150

    21.86

    -0.53%

  • RYCEF

    -0.2850

    11.865

    -2.4%

  • VOD

    -0.0500

    10.21

    -0.49%

  • RELX

    -0.5550

    53.8

    -1.03%

Barcelona recruits sheep, goats to fight wildfires
Barcelona recruits sheep, goats to fight wildfires / Photo: Pau BARRENA - AFP

Barcelona recruits sheep, goats to fight wildfires

It's a rustic scene -- sheep and goats graze placidly while a shepherd keeps watch. But this is Barcelona's biggest public park, not the countryside.

Text size:

Since April, Barcelona city hall has employed 290 sheep and goats to munch undergrowth at the Collserola National Park on the outskirts of Spain's second-largest city.

The aim of the pilot scheme is to reduce the risk of wildfires by clearing vegetation in an environmentally friendly way. It also helps educate the Mediterranean port city's 1.6 million residents about the countryside.

"The biggest challenge is re-educating people about rural life," said Daniel Sanchez, one of the shepherds, as he took the animals out to graze.

The 36-year-old moved to Barcelona from Sant Llorenc Savall, a town some 50 kilometres (30 miles) further inland, to look after the herd. He sleeps in a shed in the park near the sheep and goats.

The 8,200-hectare (20,262-acre) park is 22 times bigger than New York's Central Park and eight times larger than the Bois de Boulogne in Paris.

Its viewing points offer sweeping vistas of Barcelona, and hiking trails make it popular with joggers, cyclists and people out for a walk.

"Every year it catches fire," said Sergi Dominguez, a 52-year-old maintenance worker who was in the park walking his dog.

- 'High risk of wildfires' -

The sheep and goats "eat the scrub and that is the best thing that can happen", added Dominguez, pointing to the dry vegetation. He said he hoped the flock would return next year.

The project ends in June. If it is deemed a success, the authorities may expand it to other green areas.

Ferran Paune, the biologist and livestock farming expert in charge of the project, said the area posed a "very high risk of wildfires".

"We are in a Mediterranean zone. On top of that, it's overcrowded, with many urban areas and people living in woodland," he added.

"This natural park could burn completely in just eight hours, which could cause a very serious problem -- people needing to be evacuated or being injured."

The goats and sheep appear to have adapted "perfectly" to the urban park, Paune said.

But Sanchez, who gave up a career as a lighting technician a decade ago to become a shepherd, said he was "getting tired" of the city noise and the night-time light pollution.

"I think I hear a sheep screaming and then I realise it's actually an ambulance siren," he said.

"Or I want to listen to the herd and there's a hospital helicopter coming in to land."

(H.Schneide--BBZ)