The inefficient planning of goat grazing: Causes and consequences. The Palmera breed case (Canary Islands)

Sustainable grazing in natural protected areas is a complex planning target. In this work, research was done by three different approaches: (1) assessment of the stocking rate (SR), carrying capacity (CC) and utilization rate (UR) (2) spatial analysis and (3) participatory rural appraisal (PRA), aiming to determine the factors involved in the selection of grazing areas of Palmera Goat Breed production systems. According to the contribution of shrub and herbaceous carrying capacity four types of pasture were differentiate: summer pastures, spring pastures, and continuous pastures with either low or high carrying capacity. Almost 40% of grazing areas were within natural protected areas, of which only 10% bans grazing. From 30 to 60% of the territory was highly fragmented, and farmers set the stocking rate based on the grazing available area, however the utilization factor was negatively related to the carrying capacity (p < 0.05). Farmers identified fragmentation and environmental protection of the territory as key factors conditioning grazing management. Goat grazing systems are inefficiently planned in La Palma, and the criteria used by farmers for grazing management are more related to social and economic subjective aspects, such as fragmentation of the territory and the perception that local authorities do not support the activity, resulting in higher transaction costs.