LIFE Scrubsnet

Much of Europe’s biodiversity is closely linked to traditional and extensive agricultural practices. Agricultural ecosystems represent 38% of the total area of the Natura 2000 network, most of which has been shaped by extensive farming systems. A very good example of this type of habitat is the Dehesas/Montados (habitats 6310, 9330, 9430), southwest of the Iberian Peninsula (about 4 million hectares in Spain and Portugal), but also present in Italy. Its conservation status has been repeatedly diagnosed as unfavourable, mainly due to the effects of livestock intensification which is manifested in its ageing forests. The intensive management practices have profound consequences on the ecological processes that guarantee long-term habitat persistence, tree regeneration is prevented and soil function is depleted. Furthermore, additional factors are nowadays compromising woodland survival, including dissemination of exotic pathogens, increased drought, etc. Together these threats pose a challenge to the management of these systems that could result in dramatic social, economic, landscape and biodiversity consequences.