Strategic planning and rapid environmental evaluation for the design of management plans of forests with integrated livestock grazing (MBGI)

CANAVELLI, SONIA B.; LEZANA, LUCRECIA; CALAMARI, NOELIA C.; BARZAN, FLAVIA R.; FONSECA J.; DE LA PEÑA, CARLOS; WILSON, MARCELO; GABIOUD, EMANUEL; WINGEYER, ANA; ECLESIA, ROXANA P.; DARDANELLI, SEBASTIÁN; VARELA, SANTIAGO

Buenos Aires y Montevideo (Uruguay)

Congreso; XII Congreso Internacional de Sistemas Silvopastoriles y V Congreso Nacional Sistemas Silvopastoriles; 2023

Cattle breeding in native woodlands is the predominant livestock system in the north of Entre Ríos province (Argentina). However, these systems often experience limited technology adoption, resulting in low productivity and economic indices, in addition to signs of environmental degradation. In this context, the management of woodlands with integrated livestock production (or MBGI, by its acronym in Spanish) offers an integral alternative for sustainable cattle breeding in this region. This approach usually requires the redesign of the existing production systems at the ranch level. In this work, we present a case study applying strategic planning and rapid environmental evaluation tools for designing a management plan in a ranch located in the north of Entre Ríos. In addition to cattle breeding, the ranch is also committed to environmental conservation as a multiple-use reserve. This characteristic generates a particular challenge for identifying and maximizing synergies between production, nature conservation, and social enhancement, while mitigating the negative impacts of livestock production. Through regular meetings with the livestock production team and field visits to the ranch, we characterized the actual performance of the system; identified socioeconomic, productive, and environmental problems; and planned a redesign of livestock management in experimental modules, as a first step in a plan of progressive changes. Even when the results of the implementation and monitoring of changes are not available yet, we expect the methodology presented in this work will help to consolidate the implementation of coinnovation process related to MBGI in the region.