GoDEHESA

With this project we face the challenge of turning the Dehesa (agro-sylvo-pastoral farm) into a sustainable agroecosystem through the development and implementation of good management practices, certifiable through the Go-DEHESA quality standard, to differentiate products with environmental and social attributes, and at the same time to improve the profitability of public or private farms.

34% of the Utilised Agricultural Area in Spain are permanent pastures defined as “land used for the production of herbaceous plants and other herbaceous forage crops, spontaneous or sown, not included in the farm rotation for five years or more".

The Dehesa is the most representative example of the Iberian Peninsula and is considered to be the most extensive High Natural Value Agrarian System in Europe. These agrosystems are crucial for their economic, cultural and environmental values, providing a multitude of services to local populations and impacting on human well-being.

In the last decade, public and private entities have drawn attention to the serious crisis suffered by the dehesa ecosystem and by the municipalities where it is located. The low profitability and the lack of regeneration of this agroecosystem make it unfeasible beyond this century, even it is the largest  High Nature-Value Agriculture (HNV) system in Europe.