{"id":2820,"date":"2020-07-02T08:22:13","date_gmt":"2020-07-02T08:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/?p=2820"},"modified":"2020-07-02T08:22:54","modified_gmt":"2020-07-02T08:22:54","slug":"goats-against-fires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/en\/animal_plants\/goats-against-fires\/","title":{"rendered":"Goats Against Fires"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Goats against fires\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HTBvjElSjA4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The group in question consists of about 160 goats, sheep, cows, and camels. As strange as it may sound, but grazing, especially goats, has been found in many studies as an effective way to reduce the risk of extensive fires. Now, a <a href=\"https:\/\/deshe.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/FinancialModelsForGrazingFinalReport.pdf\">new Israeli study<\/a> has explored different ways to expand the use of this simple and ecological practice and to encourage goat grazing in Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Goats\ncontribute to fire prevention by eating the excess vegetation in areas where plant\ngrowth is dense and scrubby (such as forests), making it more difficult for\nfires to spread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Animals,\nsuch as cows and sheep, also aid in thinning out the vegetation, but they\nmostly feed on grasses, while goats prefer to eat bushes and low branches of\ntrees (and sometimes even stand on their hind legs to reach them).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the\nshrubs and lower tree branches are thinner, it\u2019s harder for a fire that ignites\nat ground level to climb upwards. Therefore, a situation where flames reach the\ntreetops and begin to spread from top to top, causing a small local fire to\nbecome a dangerous uncontrolled forest fire that quickly consumes many acres of\nwoodland might be avoided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the\npast, there was widespread goat grazing in Israel, which was significantly\nreduced following the Plant Protection Law (goat damage), also known as the\n&#8220;Black Goat Law&#8221;, named after a common breed among Bedouins in\nIsrael.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This law,\nenacted in 1950 and widely enforced since 1978, significantly restricted goat\ngrazing, leading to a decrease in the number of goats (especially in the Carmel\nMountains) from 15,000 in 1970 to only 2,000 in 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the years, evidence of the benefits of forest fire prevention through grazing has accumulated, and the law was repealed in 2018 &#8211; but the extent of grazing in Israel is still limited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/matt-howard-eAKDzK4lo4o-unsplash-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2825\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/matt-howard-eAKDzK4lo4o-unsplash-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/matt-howard-eAKDzK4lo4o-unsplash-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/matt-howard-eAKDzK4lo4o-unsplash-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/matt-howard-eAKDzK4lo4o-unsplash-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/matt-howard-eAKDzK4lo4o-unsplash-2048x1152.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><em>Goats contribute to fire prevention by eating the excess vegetation in areas where plant growth is dense and scrubby (such as forests), making it more difficult for fires to spread. Photo by Matt Howard on Unsplash<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>The\nproblem: more freedom, less milk<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According\nto the new study, grazing does have benefits for farmers (such as providing\nfree food for animals). However, in order to expand goat grazing in Israel,\nseveral major issues have to be addressed, relating mainly to the central\nagricultural purpose of goat rearing: milk and its products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When goats\ndepend on a diet given to them in a controlled environment like a shed, farmers\ncan choose food for them that helps to increase their milk yield, while\nfree-ranging goats that are feeding on pasture, tend to produce less milk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In\naddition, it&#8217;s difficult for goats of the European breed, which are widespread\nin Israel, to graze in the Israeli climate and terrain, so they must be reared\nand held in sheds. Locally-bred goats, well adapted to the region, may have no\ntrouble grazing, but produce less milk than their European relatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beyond\nthat, pastures also have direct costs, because a shepherd is needed to at all\ntimes to accompany the herd out in the pastures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According\nto Dr. Liron Amador, a researcher at the Open Landscape Institute (OLI) of the\nSteinhardt Museum of Natural History at Tel Aviv University, and co-author of\nthe new research study, human assistance is indispensable when grazing is\ncarried out to prevent fires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Someone\nmust direct the herd to the recommended places, like sites with very thick\nvegetation, or areas close to residential areas where grazing will help protect\ncommunities from fires,&#8221; she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Grazing in\nopen areas also presents technical challenges, because even when goats go out\nto pasture, it is necessary to build some kind of temporary stable for them,\nwhich serves as a warm shelter at night, as well as a dairy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These buildings must be located no more than 2 miles from the area where the herd is grazing, as goats find it difficult to cope with larger distances, which makes it necessary, in some cases, to build them in the open space \u2013 which might cause harm to the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"680\" src=\"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jurgen-scheeff-MwayJLZOVR8-unsplash-1024x680.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2829\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jurgen-scheeff-MwayJLZOVR8-unsplash-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jurgen-scheeff-MwayJLZOVR8-unsplash-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jurgen-scheeff-MwayJLZOVR8-unsplash-768x510.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jurgen-scheeff-MwayJLZOVR8-unsplash-1536x1021.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jurgen-scheeff-MwayJLZOVR8-unsplash-2048x1361.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><em>Free-ranging goats that are feeding on pasture, tend to produce less milk. Photo by J\u00fcrgen Scheeff on Unsplash<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Encourage\namateur shepherds<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Supported\nby the Jewish National Fund\u2019s Forestry Division, the OLI is also looking at\ndifferent methods to see how grazing as fire-prevention can be expanded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To that\nend, the researchers are conducting surveys among sheep breeders and\nrepresentatives of organizations in the field, checking different factors in\nrelevant locations, and performing geographical analyzes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the\nresearcher\u2019s suggestions was to encourage goat grazing among amateur growers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More\nspecifically, village residents who raise goats as a hobby, but are often not\ntaken into account by the officials because their number of goats are small\n(between a few and a few dozen). The researchers found that under certain\nconditions, such as receiving logistic or financial aid, these breeders would\nagree to slightly increase their herds and let them graze around their\nneighborhoods. &#8220;They already know how to raise goats, and they like it, so\nwhy not? We need the small herds,&#8221; says Amador.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a\nsolution to the problem of building enclosure in natural areas, the researchers\nproposed to place the buildings adjacent to the edges of agricultural\nsettlements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a\ngeographical analysis of the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council (an area in the\nJerusalem District of Israel), the researchers found that due to the relatively\nshort distances between the communities, goats grazing would be possible in\nalmost all the areas where it is needed, without harming protected areas or\nnature reserves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another\ndirection the researchers have looked at is establishing mobile goat herds. Such\na venture has been in existence for a decade, launched by JNF in Mateh Yehuda together\nwith a group of Bedouin shepherds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Every year,\nfor a period of several months, the shepherds come from the northern Negev to\nthe Jerusalem Mountains and stay in mobile facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In exchange\nfor grazing in the area, goat owners receive benefits for their herds, such as\nsubsidies, vaccines, water, and supplementing food when needed. The researchers\nfound that there is a potential to establish mobile herds in the north of the\ncountry, especially by shepherds and volunteer organizations such as the &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/eng.hashomer.org.il\/\">New Guard<\/a>.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The\nunderstanding among the rural and urban communities how important and\nbeneficial goat grazing is in certain areas needs to be strengthened,&#8221;\nsays Amador.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According\nto Amador, grazing as a form of fire prevention is also being tested or planned\nto be carried out in communities such as Haifa, Kiryat Tivon, and Kokhav Ya&#8217;ir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;A\nchange is happening. In many places, communities come to realize that grazing\nis a more lucrative and environmentally benign option than mechanically cutting\ndown the vegetation, and dumping it in waste sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead, you can take out a herd of goats that does all the work,&#8221; Amador concludes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>This ZAVIT article was also published in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.israel21c.org\/how-goats-have-become-fire-fighters-in-israel\/\">Israel21c<\/a>&nbsp;on 06\/22\/2020.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The group in question consists of about 160 goats, sheep, cows, and camels. As strange as it may sound, but &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":2821,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"acf":[],"post-meta-fields":{"_edit_lock":["1593678245:11"],"_oembed_ebf86c66477fbc23e716cea682b2bacf":["<iframe title=\"Goats against fires\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HTBvjElSjA4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>"],"_oembed_time_ebf86c66477fbc23e716cea682b2bacf":["1593678080"],"_thumbnail_id":["2821"],"_edit_last":["11"],"subtitle":["Sometimes complex problems require creative solutions. An excellent example of this is the decision made by the Jerusalem Municipality to prevent fires with the help of an unusual group of firefighters"],"_subtitle":["field_59d3d36ea7fe1"],"_wpml_media_duplicate":["1"],"_wpml_media_featured":["1"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2820"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2820"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2820\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2835,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2820\/revisions\/2835"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}