10 Facts - the positive effects of conservation grazing

From Biodiversity to Climate Protection

Conservation and cultural landscape go hand in hand in the Leiser Berge Nature Park. Conservation grazing preserves rare habitats, enhances biodiversity, and revives forgotten traditions of the Weinviertel region. With Wilde Weiden, the treasures of the past are preserved and guided into a sustainable future.

  1. Preservation of Rare Habitats: Grazing helps maintain valuable biotopes such as dry grasslands, open oak forests, and wet meadows. Without grazing, these areas would become overgrown, leading to the loss of crucial habitats for endangered species.
  2. Promotion of Biodiversity: Grazing animals create a mosaic-like landscape with diverse vegetation structures, providing habitats for numerous specialized plants, insects, birds, and other wildlife.
  3. Prevention of Shrub Encroachment: Grazing prevents the spread of shrubs and trees that would otherwise displace light-loving plants and animals.
  4. Natural Landscape Management: Instead of intensive mechanical interventions, grazing animals take over landscape maintenance. This is more ecological and, above all, more sustainable.
  5. Restoration of Natural Processes: Large herbivores resume their original role as landscape shapers, similar to how wild animals did in the past. This creates dynamic, natural ecosystems.
  6. Climate Protection: Grazing stimulates root growth and enhances interactions with soil microorganisms, leading to increased carbon storage in the soil. Thus, naturally managed grazing areas help reduce greenhouse gases.
  7. Support for Regional Agriculture: Ideally, local farms benefit from keeping robust grazing animals adapted to extensive conditions, providing high-quality products such as meat or wool. In the Weinviertel region, many grazing farms have already ceased operations—therefore, the Nature Park Leiser Berge has taken over this responsibility.
  8. Tourism and Environmental Education: Wild grazing areas allow visitors to observe animals in a natural setting, raising awareness of the importance of conservation and sustainable land use.
  9. Enhancement of Soil Life: The dung of grazing animals benefits soil life—from dung beetles and earthworms to tiny fungi and microorganisms, many organisms thrive in a gently grazed ecosystem.
  10. Regional Identity: Only black-and-white photos remind us of the village herders who once drove communal livestock to the pastures. The old grazing pastures, today's juniper heaths and dry grasslands of the Leiser Berge, as well as the ancient cattle paths, are remnants of this era. These elements, along with traditional Kellergassen (wine cellar alleys) and Wegmarterl (wayside shrines), are valuable parts of the region's cultural identity and landscape. Conservation grazing continues these traditional practices, helping to preserve regional heritage.