Abstract
Simple SummaryEquines have a peculiar place in our society. From livestock to sport, through to landscape managers and leisure partners, equines show a wide range of little-known environmental advantages and assets. Today’s wake-up calls about the environment are progressively putting pressure on stakeholders of the agricultural sector, including the equine industry. This study focusses on the main environmental consequences of equine use and possession in Europe based on scientific and technical sources under the lens of five leading sectors where equines show unique impacts as green assets. Now, more than ever before, it is important to highlight the role of equines as a green alternative in political debates and management practices to give them the place equines deserve in the ecological transition of agriculture.Despite the decline of equine populations in the middle of the 20th century, the European horse industry is growing again thanks to economic alternatives found in the diversification of the uses of equines (sports, racing, leisure, etc.). Equines have many environmental advantages, but the fragmentation of the sector and the lack of synthetic knowledge about their environmental impacts do not enable the promotion of these assets and their effective inclusion in management practices and European policies. To highlight the equine environmental impacts, a literature review was carried out to cover the main European stakes. This work led to the identification of five “green assets”, fields where equines show unique environmental advantages compared to other agricultural productions. These green assets are linked to the nature of equines (grazing and domestic biodiversity), to their geographical distribution (land use), and to their use by human beings (tourism and work). Today, when searching for sustainable solutions to modern environmental issues, the use of equines is a neglected green alternative. Better knowledge and use of equine green assets could partly respond to more ecological agricultural needs and contribute to the development of this animal industry, which has a place in regional development and in Europe’s sustainable transition.
Highlights
In the European Union (EU), after World War II, equine numbers declined drastically because of the motorization of transport
The aim of this review is to highlight the most important services provided by equines for the environment at the European level
This paper examines the environmental assets of equines that appear to be most important in the context of European policies about agriculture and rural development
Summary
In the European Union (EU), after World War II, equine numbers declined drastically because of the motorization of transport (estimates generally agree that horse numbers decreased approximatelyAnimals 2020, 10, 106; doi:10.3390/ani10010106 www.mdpi.com/journal/animals90% in Europe by the 1950s [1]). In the European Union (EU), after World War II, equine numbers declined drastically because of the motorization of transport Before 1950, horses were largely used for agriculture, transportation, and the army. The European community was built after the Second World War to maintain peace and ensure the autonomy of its inhabitants regarding basic necessities, food products.
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