Abstract
Transhumance is the seasonal migration of livestock in search of pastures and water. This migration allows for intensive, rotational, diversified and optimal use of the land. The functional value of this mobility is not exempt from certain confusion arising from a lack of knowledge of this thousand-year old system. Transhumance, as a livestock management system, has therefore generated debate due to the interest and controversy it provokes, particularly with respect to the environment, geography and cultural aspects of arid and semi-arid areas. The purpose of this presentation is to demonstrate how the goat herders of the San Luis Potosí highlands plan their grazing practices based on a cyclical migration between two points with ecological complementarity: the mountains and the valley. The difference between these two points is caused by the cyclical combination of each point, which involves the climate, season, type of vegetation and topography. This system, called transhumance, has allowed the area’s goat herding families to survive, persist and resist. Due to the relationship between ecological complementarity, planned practices, and the tie between the animals and the land, there is a society and culture of sustainable transhumance in the region.
The dictionary defines the term transhumance (Latin trans- and humus earth) as a form of pastoralism consisting of the seasonal movement of livestock to make better use of grazing grounds and water based on the physical and climatic characteristics of the land. This concept is discussed throughout this article.
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Notes
- 1.
Los caminos de la trashumancia: Territorio, persistencia y representaciones de la ganadería pastoril en el altiplano potosino. (The Paths of Transhumance: Land Persistence and Representations of Pastoral Livestock Grazing in the San Luis Potosi Highlands) (Coord. Mora, María Isabel, Colsan 2013). The National Board of Science and Technology (CONACYT) supported the continuity of the project under the title: Sistema pastoril, conocimientos locales e identidad territorial. Alternativa alimentaria para el desarrollo regional en el desierto. (Grazing System, Local Knowledge and Territorial Identity: Feeding Alternative for Regional Development in the Desert).
- 2.
The municipalities are: Vanegas, Cedral, Catorce, Matehuala, Villa de Guadalupe, Charcas, Venado, Villa de Arista, Guadalcázar and Villa Hidalgo.
- 3.
Goat herds were brought into the country in 1521 and were herded to the northern lands in 1492 (see Mora 2013).
- 4.
There is evidence of transhumance in the Bronze Age, in the Mediterranean era in the IV and II century A.C. In the XII and XIII centuries in Spain it was of great importance for controlling the pastures formed by the first groups of livestock farmers. Livestock paths have generated cultural heritage in Europe; however, in recent decades, between 20% and 40% of these livestock paths have been lost, which has contributed to the progressive abandonment of these paths by livestock farmers (Ambientum 38/2001).
- 5.
Previously, the entire family followed the migration, but currently, because of access to schools and health and other services, only the father and the older children follow the fold to care for the livestock.
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Ledesma, M.I.M. (2018). Transhumance: Sustainable Strategy for Human and Ecological Conservation. In: Leal Filho, W., Noyola-Cherpitel, R., Medellín-Milán, P., Ruiz Vargas, V. (eds) Sustainable Development Research and Practice in Mexico and Selected Latin American Countries. World Sustainability Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70560-6_31
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