Temperatures are getting warmer and Spain is preparing to face yet another summer of forest fires that have destroyed about 741,000 hectares of forest in the last 10 years.
From here we can deduce how the reintroduction of the wild bison, a large herbivore nicknamed “the living lawnmower” can be a valid ally not only to increase the biodiversity of the territory, but also to keep the undergrowth clean.
Wild bison weigh up to 1000 kg, eat about 30 kg of vegetation a day composed of about 30% of wood fiber and 70% of sprouts and leaves, they were pushed to extinction in Spain 10,000 years ago, but their number is growing thanks to a program of protection and reintroduction of the species.
The first project to introduce wild bison in the wild, in Spain, was carried out in 2010 which favored the growth of straight trees, while they ate the crooked and bent ones, and made the forest better visually, undergrowth and biodiversity. .
Sonia Roig Gómez, professor at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, points out that in the Mediterranean, grazing has been fundamental for the development of the landscape, the decline of pastoralism has led to more fires.
For this reason “We are encouraging and helping landowners to develop a bison project because it is good for the earth and also saves money, as well as encouraging ecotourism and playing a role in limiting forest fires”.