Developing win-win outcomes across a range of grassland-based livestock systems
Résumé
In Europe, grassland-based livestock farming systems develop across a wide range of biogeographical
conditions. These systems allow producing meat, milk and cheese with limited competition with human food
supply. Intensive grazing systems limit greenhouse gas emission per unit of product, but high animal densities
lead to nitrate leaching and various other nuisances. Favorable grass-growth conditions combined with the
use of grass-legume mixtures allows limiting the inputs needed for production and system environmental
footprint. Under more marginal conditions, permanent grasslands and rangelands provide valuable habitats for
various forms of biodiversity, and a wide bundle of regulating (e.g. climate regulation via carbon sequestration,
pollination, flood regulation, fire prevention, erosion prevention) and cultural (e.g. aesthetic value, product
quality, ecotourism) ecosystem services. Provisioning services usually exhibit negative correlations with
cultural and regulating services so that trade-offs between stakeholders occur. Though win-wins are the
exception, not the rule, case-studies from various European countries illustrate opportunities for win-wins
in grassland-based systems. Analyzing the mechanisms involved in grazing management and acting on the
spatial arrangement of practices to increase landscape heterogeneity can help reconciling production and
biodiversity. In order to create win-win situations, it is also necessary to take into account the point of view
of all stakeholders. Importantly, it should not be assumed that provisioning services must always dominate
any other ecosystem services. Finally, prospective scenarios offer opportunities to quantify whether shifts in
production systems or food choices are likely to lead to win-win solutions.