Manejo, problemática y oportunidades de los caballos salvajes de Galicia como herramienta de conservación de hábitats prioritarios en la Red Natura 2000

Abstract

Galician wild ponies represent a key element in the open landscapes of the Galician mountain ranges. Among other effects, they aid in the maintenance and preservation of different habitats such as bogs and wet heaths. As part of the LIFE project “Life in Common Land” (LIFE16 NAT/ES/000707), aimed at the conservation of priority habitats in Natura 2000 Site “Serra do Xistral”, we performed semistructured interviews to ponies’ managers and owners to improve our knowledge of the social dimension, management practices, main threats and their potentiality as a tool for habitat conservation. Results show a decline in the number of ponies and pony owners during the last decades. The ponies’ capacity to shape the vegetation structure, and their effect to reduce wolf attacks to cattle were identified as the main ecosystem services. The main threats perceived by owners are the high frequencies of wolf attacks and a detrimental application of CAP subsidies. Ponies are free roaming all-year round in the traditional system, but new management forms are arising. Our results show their potential as a tool for conservation, their positive effect on pastures for cattle grazing, and the strong cultural engagement of the local community with their ponies.