A meeting held recently in northern Spain has shown that, despite great geographical and cultural distances, shepherds from different continents share a very similar way of relating to the land, livestock, and their way of life.
During a visit to the mountains of Asturias and Cantabria, partners of the Horizon Europe CoCo project, in which the Aragon Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology (CITA) participates as the Spanish partner, explored the pastoral practices of the area and the challenges associated with the presence of wolves in these mountain ranges.
The experience, however, went beyond a simple technical exchange: the research team detected striking parallels with pastoral communities in East Africa, especially in their lifestyle, inherited knowledge, and their way of relating to the natural environment.
As the group visited livestock farms, traveling from the valleys of Onís to cheese dairies located in mountain passes, a common idea gained strength: pastoralism functions as a cultural link between distant regions, articulated around a shared vision of natural cycles and livestock management.
One of the most symbolic moments of this connection arose during a visit to local farmers, when the group came across a traditional wooden staff leaning against a stone wall.
The object was immediately recognizable to Ana Grau Valenciano, a researcher from CITA's Animal Science department, who commented: "It's the same type of staff used by shepherds in Tanzania." This coincidence highlights how simple tools, developed independently, meet similar herding needs in very different environments.
Grau Valenciano, who has over ten years of experience working with pastoral communities in Tanzania in contexts of coexistence with lions, emphasizes that the parallels go far beyond utensils. "Shepherds in Spain and East Africa share a way of looking at the world. It's a deep relationship with animals, landscapes, and movement. Although the contexts differ, the herding identity and the conception of the environment are very familiar," she states.
ALSO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES
Despite these coincidences, important differences also emerge. In Tanzania, the presence of large predators such as lions implies a direct physical risk to both livestock and people, while in Spain the impact of the wolf is concentrated on cattle. Even so, in both territories, the social and emotional consequences of this coexistence show notable similarities.
The visit to the Enrique Remis Cheese Factory, where Sara and Rubén work with their flock in the pastures near the Covadonga lakes, allowed for a deeper understanding of these parallels. During the tour, the exchange of experiences regarding coexistence with predators generated strong mutual recognition among the participants.
"Hearing about lions, I realized that many feelings and challenges are similar," said Sara. "Although the fauna is different, the concerns, adaptation, and connection to the land are very similar."
The meeting made it clear that, regardless of whether it is wolves or lions, mountains or savannas, the essential challenges of pastoralism—protecting livestock, sustaining extensive models, and defending traditions—transcend physical borders.
This experience has reinforced the direction of the CoCo project, which aims not only to advance coexistence between livestock farming and wildlife but also to value ancestral knowledge, pastoral culture, and the common heritage shared by communities in different regions of the planet.
As the attendees summarized, sometimes a simple wooden stick is enough to remember that seemingly distant places actually speak the same language.
The CoCo project, funded by Horizon Europe, brings together 17 entities from 12 countries with the goal of designing innovative solutions that promote coexistence between livestock farming and wildlife, based on the exchange of knowledge among the different stakeholders in the territory. For more information about the CoCo project: https://cocoproject.eu/